[Watch] 26-Year-Old Needs To Gain 3kg To Qualify For Life-Saving Lung Transplant

[Watch] 26-Year-Old Needs To Gain 3kg To Qualify For Life-Saving Lung Transplant — But His Family Can’t Afford The Formula

0 Sara Smith March 29, 2026

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Neshan Raj has been fighting cystic fibrosis since he was six years old.

Now 26, he’s three kilograms away from a lung transplant that could save him — but his family can’t afford the nutritional formula keeping him alive.

The genetic disease attacks his lungs and digestive system, causing thick mucus buildup that makes breathing progressively harder.

Two years ago, his condition sharply deteriorated: his lungs are now riddled with cavities, his digestive system is failing, and he coughs up blood.

Neshan can’t shower or walk across a room without gasping for air – he takes 50 pills daily from more than 10 medications and relies on an oxygen machine 24 hours a day, even while sleeping.

Doctors say a lung transplant is his only real chance at survival.

The good news: he’s already on the transplant waiting list, and the surgery has been approved, but he must weigh at least 45 kilograms to qualify — he currently weighs 42 kilograms (the exact weight number varies by hospital and patient circumstances).

The Treatment Is Working — But the Bills Are Piling Up

Underweight patients (low Body Mass Index) face higher risks:

Poor wound healing after surgery
Higher infection rates
Worse recovery outcomes
Lower muscle mass makes rehabilitation harder

Doctors recommended a special nutritional formula, but drinking it made him vomit.

And so, they inserted a gastrostomy tube directly into his stomach, pumping formula four times daily.

In less than a month, Neshan went from 39 to 42 kilograms — the treatment is working.

But one 400-gram tin costs around RM130 and lasts only two days.

That’s roughly RM2,000 monthly, plus three other medications he pays for out of pocket, plus unpaid medical equipment costs from the tube insertion.

The Family That Has Already Lost One

His father works as a lorry driver; his mother runs a mobile hawker stall, earning around RM60 daily.

The family barely covers rent and food.

Neshan has two sisters and one brother, but there used to be four siblings.

His eldest sister also had cystic fibrosis and died when she was young.

Soserv Welfare Malaysia has launched a fundraising campaign for RM6,647.50 to cover three months of formula (48 tins) and outstanding medical equipment costs.

After 20 years of fighting, Neshan’s survival now comes down to whether his family can afford three months of nutritional formula to reach 45 kilograms.

Those wishing to help can contact Soserv Welfare Malaysia at 010-259 5965 or info@soserv.org.my, using the reference name “Neshan Raj A/L Sinniah.”