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Cancer-hit children take a train to Goa for three-day holiday By Pamela Raghunath, Correspondent Published: May 23, 2008, 23:54 Mumbai: Train journeys are always fun for children and a trip to Goa during summer holidays is all the more delightful, especially for 70 youngsters suffering from various degrees of cancer. Like all carefree, happy children in the age group of four to 15, this excited lot boarded the Konkan Kanya Express from the Chhatrapati Shivaji Rail Terminus at around 11pm yesterday for a three-day holiday in Goa and will return from Madgaon by the same train on May 26. Chattering happily with their friends in the three-tier airconditioned compartments, each child was accompanied by a parent. Also travelling were a couple of doctors treating the children. In Goa, the children will be taken to the famous heritage sites as well as the lovely beaches. Success stories With the Tata Memorial Centre (TMC), one of the country's largest cancer hospitals, arranging an annual holiday for the young patients, "we, too, wanted to spread a little more cheer in their life," says Vaishali Patangi, Public Relations, Konkan Railway (KR). KR is thus providing a complimentary to and fro rail trip to Goa to these children who are undergoing treatment for cancer at TMC. KR will also be providing on-board hospitality to make their journey memorable. Some of the children are already on their way to recovery and figure in the list of success stories that show childhood cancer is totally curable if treated at the right time with a proper follow-up. Gulshan Kumar, 15, is among them those who have recently recovered from cancer after undergoing treatment at the hospital and is already full of plans for his future. "Their enthusiasm for life is touching," says Patangi who was at the railway station to send them off on their holiday. "It is only when you learn that they are all afflicted with this disease, the very name that sends shivers down every one of us, that you take a second look at them and wonder over their exuberance," she says.
