This might be a difficult condition to imagine, to look like a 12 year old child when your just a year away from entering your 20s can have a terrible effect on any person. But this is how 19 year old Santhanaperumal’s condition can be best described. As though this was not enough, he belonged to a family that struggled to make ends meet.

Having an alchoholic father who choose to abandon the family when Santhanam was five didn’t help either. Amsa Valli, his mother was his only saviour who managed to support the family with household work in a few homes. She managed to educate her daughters Muthumeena and Ramya upto 12^th and 11^th standard respectively with an income below 10,000 rupees. Ramya was the youngest and family conditions forced her to leave school and work at a mill in Coimbatore. Santhana on the other hand could never go beyond 11^th standard due to his constant tiredness and breathing problems

The idea of working was ruled out as he could not do any work involving the slightest amount physical exursion. Staying back home at an age when boys would explore their interests, looked like the final blow to Santhanaperumal’s dream of a normal life.

One fine day Santhana complained of chest pain and was rushed to the Governement Hospital in Madurai. It was then that his family realized the shocking truth that Santhana was born with a defective heart.

Amsa Valli was shattered. She had always believed that her troubles would end when her son grew up and would start taking care of the family. The diagnosis of Santhana’s Congenital Heart Disease threw all her hopes right out of the window. Just when she was on the verge of losing hope, her employer Varalakshmi referred them to LMHF, after coming across an advertisement of the foundation.

This was the ray of hope Amsa Valli was looking for. On reaching LMHF, they were scheduled for surgery on 2^nd November, 2017. The surgery was successful and Santhana’s entire family were elated. They were deeply grateful to the doctor and the foundation for giving their son a new lease of life.

Today, Santhana Perumal leads a normal life just like other teenagers of his age. He is happier and healthier than ever. He is slowly but steadily gaining weight, has much more energy to study and work and is looking forward to a happy and fulfilling life ahead.