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Di­nesh Gadraj is sched­uled to leave T&T in just two weeks for Apol­lo Hos­pi­tal in In­dia—a jour­ney his fam­i­ly prays will save his life. But as March 11 draws clos­er, the 20-year-old re­mains heart­break­ing­ly far from rais­ing the more than US$165,000 need­ed for the stem cell trans­plant that could give him a fight­ing chance.

At an age when most young men are plan­ning ca­reers and pur­su­ing their dreams, the for­mer Shi­va Boys Hin­du Col­lege stu­dent is in­stead prepar­ing for an un­cer­tain med­ical bat­tle over­seas. Doc­tors in T&T have told his fam­i­ly there is noth­ing more they can do.

The Min­istry of Health has con­tributed TT$100,000 to­ward his treat­ment, and an on­line fundrais­er has brought in US$3,414 so far. But the amount still need­ed re­mains over­whelm­ing.