A rare tumour has robbed a Nabadwip weaver of his livelihood and disrupted his daughter’s education.

Dilip Saha, 35, needs surgery immediately to stop the tumour from “eating through his skull and reaching his brain” but cannot afford to go under the knife.

“Saha’s tumour — known as Glomus Tumour — has developed from the large blood vessel under his right ear. One in 1.3 million suffers from such a tumour,” said Ranjan Roychowdhury, an otolaryngologist and head and neck surgeon at Park Clinic who is treating the father of two.

The surgery and subsequent treatment will cost about Rs 90,000. The Rs 30,000 that the Sahas had collected by borrowing from neighbours has been spent. Some doctors and their friends later chipped in with Rs 30,000 but the family does not know where the remaining Rs 60,000 will come from.

Dilip is ready to sell a two-cottah plot he owns in his village but cannot find buyers. “He used to weave two tant saris in three days and earn about Rs 9,000 a month. But the income has stopped since he cannot work. We have stopped sending our 13-year-old daughter Purnima to school. The younger one, Puja, still goes to free primary school in our village,” said Dilip’s wife Krishna.

rith.basu@abp.in