Tata Memorial’s free service helps palliative kids go home with dignity | Mumbai news

Seven-year-old Khushi Bavane had only one wish as her condition worsened: to return home to her village in Uttar Pradesh and spend her final days surrounded by her grandparents, friends and the comforting familiarity of home. Diagnosed with terminal bone cancer, Khushi spent 45 days at Mumbai’s Tata Memorial Hospital (TMH), fighting bravely until doctors shifted her to palliative care.

“Even though she was so young, she knew something was wrong,” said her uncle, Santosh Khedkar, who lives in Buldhana. “She was in pain and kept asking to go back home. But the journey was just too expensive for us.”

That’s when TMH stepped in.

India’s largest cancer hospital arranged for a free, dignified final journey for Khushi under its pioneering paediatric palliative care programme. On March 1, she was transported to her hometown with due care. On March 17, Khushi died at home, surrounded by the people she loved.

The initiative that made this possible was launched in August 2024, to help terminally ill paediatric patients return home for end-of-life care. In just eight months, the hospital has supported 26 families, spending ₹8.89 lakh. “Even though Khushi is no longer with us, we are grateful she didn’t die in a hospital bed far from home,” Khedkar said quietly. “She got to see her family, and that means everything to us.”

TMH sees around 2,500 new paediatric cancer patients every year, nearly half of them from outside Mumbai. For many families, the cost of returning home with a terminally ill or deceased child is simply unaffordable.

The hospital’s initiative offers more than just transportation—it offers closure, peace and dignity. “When it comes to palliative care, people often think of adult patients,” said Shalini Jatia, officer-In-charge of TMH’s ImPaCCT Foundation, which runs the programme. “Children are emotionally more vulnerable. That’s why we started this service—to give them, and their families, a final moment of peace. Regardless of our age, home is where we all want to be.”

The programme is rooted in TMH’s earlier bereavement initiative, launched in 2011, which provided free transportation for deceased patients. That service laid the foundation for what would later become a broader, more compassionate paediatric programme.

On November 18, 2024, 12-year-old Saurav Kumar from Bihar became another beneficiary. Suffering from terminal cancer, he died at TMH. His mother and younger brother had accompanied him to Mumbai, while his father, a daily wage labourer earning ₹7,000 a month, stayed back in their village to support the family.

“I desperately wanted to see my son one last time,” said his father, Umashankar Prasad. “I could not afford to bring his body back. Had it not been for TMH, I would have lost him without a final goodbye.”

Saurav’s body was wrapped in a white shroud, adorned with garlands, and transported with dignity to his hometown. TMH has partnered with an NGO to deliver this compassionate service, ensuring that every paediatric death is handled with care and respect. On average, the hospital spends ₹16,000 per child for the final journey home.

The programme doesn’t stop at logistics. TMH also provides emotional counselling to the grieving parents of terminally ill patients. “It’s devastating for any parent to accept that their child won’t survive,” Jatia said. “We guide them, support them, and prepare them emotionally so they can be there for their child until the very end.”

Terminal paediatric cancer patients who don’t need special medical treatment but can benefit from palliative care are admitted to two institutions with which TMH has tied up – Dr Ernest Borges Memorial Home and Shanti Avedna Sadan.

“There’s more to cancer care than aiming for a cure. Around 20 to 25% of paediatric cancer patients cannot be cured and require palliative care. Some children also die during treatment, and their families need support—either to conduct the last rites here in Mumbai or to transport the body back to their hometown,” said Dr Shripad Banavali, director of academics at TMC.

When TMH first began seeking donations for its service that helped terminal paediatric cancer patients with their journey back home, or transport the bodies of those who didn’t make it back home, Jatia feared few would be willing to contribute to something as overlooked as dignified post-death care. “But we were wrong,” she said. “People responded with immense compassion.”

Since its inception, the bereavement programme has spent over ₹60 lakh, quietly transforming how families say goodbye to their children—with love, dignity and peace.