Gavaskar promises to save children suffering from congenital heart disease on his 72nd birthday

Cricketer-turned-commentator Sunil Gavaskar celebrated his 72nd birthday on Saturday, July 10. And on this special day, he just has one wish, to give children who are suffering from congenital heart disease a second chance and a new lease of life altogether. Gavaskar, who is in England for his commentary stint for upcoming India’s five-match Test series, is aware of this issue for quite a long time and has made a promise to himself to make the children smile at the end of the day.

The former legendary batsman also has a ‘Heart to Heart’ foundation and has been working closely with Sri Sathya Sanjeevani Hospitals for many years, which has seen 16,000 successful free of cost of surgeries performed, with an astonishing success rate of 99 percent. Gavaskar’s efforts towards making the children smile have helped kids who are in desperate need of surgery.

“The Heart to Heart foundation was set up a few years back to create awareness about the issue of children born with congenital heart defects and to raise funds which help in the children getting treated without having to pay anything,” Sunil Gavaskar told Yahoo Cricket on his birthday.

When quizzed on what motivated him to help kids who are suffering from congenital heart disease (CHD), the former India opening batter said there are close to three lakh kids, who are suffering from CHD and who possibly won’t be able to celebrate their next birthday, and that’s the main reason why he wants to make a difference and help the children.

“There are more than 3,00,000 children born in India with CHD and almost a third of them don’t live to see their next birthday,” said Gavaskar.

Sunil Gavaskar keen to bring a change by curing children suffering from CHD

He further concluded by saying there are many hospitals in New Raipur, Chhattisgarh, and other areas where the surgery is conducted free of cost for children suffering from CHD.

“The foundation is collaborating with the three Sri Sathya Sai Sanjeevani Hospitals, one in New Raipur, Chhattisgarh, another in Palwal, Haryana, and the third in Kharghar, New Mumbai where the children are treated. These hospitals perform surgeries and cath interventions totally free of cost to the child and the parents,” Gavaskar said.