Sukhu, Dhanraj among winners at bird racing competition

Jun 24, 2022 Sports

– funds donated to 10 year old cancer patient
– Cricket legend Chanderpaul renders assistance

The Dead Squad Bird Racing Family hosted a bird racing competition on Sunday last at Lusignan.

Team Captain Latchman Chintamani (right) presents the cash to Rachana father Vishnu Rukhram.

The competition, which was held to help raise funds for Rachana Rukhram, attracted a number of participants and the winners were rewarded with trophies. Banks DIH also presented each winner with a token.
Rachana Rukhram is a 10 year old Guyanese girl who was diagnosed with an aggressive form of blood cancer called Myelomonocytic Leukaemia with Eosinophilia requiring urgent medical management to save her life.
Rachana, has been an inpatient in the Pediatric Medical Ward at the Georgetown Hospital Corporation since 21st February 2022 and unfortunately, this type of cancer can only be treated via a bone marrow transplant procedure which is not available Guyana or anywhere else in the Caribbean.
West Indies cricket legend Shivnarine Chanderpaul has become a champion of sorts for Rachana’s plight. He reached out to his longtime friend and cricket legend Sir Brian Charles Lara who through the Brian Lara Cancer Centre in Trinidad was able to get her medical reports to the experts at Apollo Indraprastha Hospitals in Delhi India.
Apollo Indraprastha is no stranger to cases like Rachana’s and after a review of the medical reports, Group Vice President Dr. Harinder Sidhu and Dr. Gaurav Kharya head of the BMT unit have agreed to commence treatment immediately if her family can get her to their facility in India. The family is not required to make a down payment to access medical treatment, but will have to pay their medical bill in full before she is discharged.
Dr. Sidhu expressed his organisation’s commitment to saving the life of children like Rachana who has been diagnosed with these aggressive forms of cancer. Having successfully treated previous patients from Trinidad and Tobago and around the world, Dr, Sidhu hopes that Apollo can be of greater support to the public and private medical systems in the Caribbean region.
Shivnarine Chanderpaul is already leading the cause having sponsored return airfare tickets for Rachana and her mother Arte. The family is now left with the task of raising $127,500 USD to cover her Bone Marrow Transplant and other medical expenses.
Rachana’s father Vishnu Rukhram and his brother Kurt have started a gofundme page for online donations and can be accessed via www.gofundme.com with the hopes that well-wishers around the world would contribute to Rachana’s worthy cause. Donation payments can also be made directly to the hospital. For more information on assisting; Rachana’s father can be contacted at 1 592 601 3299.
Meanwhile, the bird racing organisation donated $125,000 from the event to the family.
The winners of the bird racing competition were Sewdat Sukhu, Maheshwar Dhanraj, Saheed Sultan, Raymond Dhanraj, Vijay Persaud, Shanil Ram and Kean Phillips.