Bhavani Espathi is fighting the most important battle of her life. And, her fight is not only hers, but it is also the fight of the whole humanity.
Many things changed for Bhavani when she came to know that she was suffering from a rare disease. She was left in a coma after major surgery and now is fighting to stay in the UK as she might be forcibly deported to India.
She came to Britain as a student but things changed for her when her body starts showing symptoms of Crohn’s Disease, a digestive tract disorder.
Recently, her case gathered the traction when she was asked to forcibly leave to India even though her condition was too critical to travel.
While recalling how her application was rejected to stay in the UK on human rights grounds, she shared:
“The only thing keeping me somewhat ‘healthy’ besides constant medical attention are immunosuppressants such as Ustekinumab, which is currently unavailable in India”
Knowing that she won’t be able to get access to the medicines that she needs, her fiance Martin Mangler, launched the petition ‘Let Bhavani Live’ in order to request the Office to review the case again.
It is no surprise the hundreds of thousands of people have signed the online petition to allow her to stay in Britain.
The petition has garnered close to 150,000-signature on Change.Org.
Recalling inhumane and disheartening experience, Mangler recalled:
“The doctors say she needs to stay here, but the Home Office want to deport her to India. They even threatened her with deportation whilst she was unconscious in coma”Â
“Doctors say her life is at risk if she would be deported. This means the Home Office could be sending her to her death. The Home Office have admitted that she wouldn’t get as good care in India, and pointed out that she could get ‘palliative care’ instead”
Further, he urged people through his petition:
“This cruel politics has to end so that Bhavani can continue to get the care she desperately needs”
Many of the people who signed the petition have left messages of shock and support over the “torturous” situation. People standing for Bharti are the living evidence that humanity isn’t dead.
Because of the pressure, the Home Office has said that her case is being reviewed again after it was made aware of “fresh evidence”.
Bhavani came to the UK as a student in 2010. She has since created a social innovation online hub for people with chronic illnesses called Invisible Labs. She underwent surgery in September last year but it resulted in complications. And, now she is required to undergo further surgeries because her stomach never closed properly.
In his humble request to people to support her application, her fiance shared:
“She remains on a drip to gain weight so that she can survive the next surgeries. She can’t travel at all and the surgeons say that it is of vital importance that her care continued to be coordinated and performed here in the UK”
After looking at the barbaric treatment, Vicky Foxcroft, a local MP, shared:
“The Home Office’s barbaric treatment of migrants continues to appall me. I will do all I can to oppose it”Â
Let’s hope the UK government will not turn a deaf ear to the Bhavani’s request to live, just because she is a migrant.
