Chennaiyin FC fan makes recovery from heart disease, travels for AFC Cup match

Jaikumar Murugesan, a die-hard Chennaiyin FC fan, has recovered from a rare cardiovascular disorder and travelled with the Supermachans fan army for their 2019 AFC Cup encounter against Minerva Punjab, which was held in Ahmedabad. The Chennaiyin FC fan club announced the same through Twitter.

The 24-year-old was diagnosed with Pulmonary Atresia with Intact Ventricular Septum (PAIVS) in the month of January and had trouble raising funds for his treatment. Chennaiyin FC co-owner Abhishek Bachchan donated Rs 5,00,000 (Rs five lakh) whereas his Chennai City FC counterpart Rohit Ramesh too pitched in Rs 30,000 in a heart-warming gesture.

Dear Indian Football community, your love & support has helped our friend, Jaikumar, recover faster & he's back travelling with us to support our one true love @ChennaiyinFC.Here's wishing him many, many happy returns of the day. Thanks for making it more special @IndiGo6E 💙 pic.twitter.com/Vt5Soee0kE

— Supermachans-Chennaiyin FC Fans (@Supermachans) April 4, 2019

"Due to hard financial situation of my family, I can't able (sic) to allocate funds for my treatment. We are not able to raise the money to meet this medical expense and therefore we are requesting for your help to raise fund for my treatment. We request you to support us by donating the money before March. Thank you in advance for your support," read Jaikumar's public statement.

Other prominent names who made a contribution towards the noble cause were journalist TN Raghu and coach Raman Vijayan. Both of them provide ISL commentary for Star Sports Tamil with the latter also being the founder of Raman Vijayan Soccer School which participates regularly in the Hero Elite League (U18 I-League), Hero Junior League (U15 I-League), and Hero Sub-Junior League (U13 I-League).

PAIVS is a heart valve defect which is usually found at birth or shortly afterwards. The pulmonary valve which allows blood to flow from the heart to the lungs doesn't operate properly as a sheet of tissue blocks the blood flow.

The doctors discovered Jaikumar's condition during his birth and, he has been on medication since then. However, the situation aggravated in the last two months of 2018 and took a life-threatening form.

Chronic diseases like PAIVS are difficult to cure once a person crosses the age of five. However, the adverse effects of it can be neutralized if proper care is taken.