When diagnosed with Cancer, it is not just the patient that suffers. It takes a toll on the family & loved ones as well. Samara Mahindra was no stranger to this reality as she saw her own mother suffer at the hands of Cancer.
In a country where 17.3 lakh new cases are estimated to be registered by the year 2020, startups like that of Samara Mahindra's CARER program offer some respite. In conversation with IBT India Executive Editor Danish Manzoor, she spoke about the idea, journey and future plans of her start-up.
Samara said that her mother was diagnosed with cancer and they provided her with the best doctors and medical facilities. After the treatment, she came back home but her immunity took a hit. "For us, it was a dilemma as her health was deteriorating at a rapid pace after the treatment. At the end her immunity gave way and she lost her battle with cancer. From there on I decided that I have to do something about this and then the idea of CARER Program came forth".
After the demise of her mother, Samara moved to the US and started learning more about Oncology and Holistic therapy. According to her, initially many people believed that CARER Program is more of a post-treatment therapy but it's not. Samara explains, "People have a wrong notion about us that we are someone who provides post-treatment care but it's not like that. We work with the patients who are getting treated and along the way we provide them with our holistic approach."
"We try to be with the patients as soon as they are diagnosed with Cancer and provide them with holistic therapy. We are not into any kind of alternative therapy and our focus is to build the immune system of the patient," she added.
Samara has a staff of trained professionals, ranging from Nutritionist, Dieticians and Yoga teachers. Samara said that everyone on her team has been somehow related to Cancer. Either they are Cancer survivors or someone from their family has suffered from it.
So, what exactly is CARER all about? Where do they operate out of? How does it really help? Is this some kind of voodoo therapy? WATCH the full interview above for all these answers and more.
