Nihal was brought to Apollo Hospital in April 2007 in a deteriorating health condition as he was suffering from Idiopathic Neonatal Hepatitis.

Because of the progressive liver disease and jaundice the child was unable to gain weight. "He weighed about 6.4 kgs in his 13th month which is incomparable to normal babies of his age. Deteriorating liver function and loss of weight indicated a need for liver transplant," Anupam Sibal, senior consultant Pediatrics, Indrapratha Apollo Hospitals, said.

"Surgery on such a child was a difficult task. He had no muscle reserve nor fat reserve and his blood vessels were too small. If we transplanted a liver, it would push up to his chest and make breathing impossible," recalled Sibal.

Along with this, there were other hurdles too awaiting for this child hailing from Kolkata. Born after two years of fertility treatment, Nihal was being treated under the free patient category but the money for the surgery and post operative care had to be raised.