A Noida-based content creator has shared a distressing video of her young son in a hospital bed, sobbing as doctors prepare him for treatment. The video, posted on her Instagram page, shows Sakshi Pahwa trying to calm him while wearing a mask.
Pahwa said her son’s health began declining soon after the family moved to Delhi NCR two years ago. “Delhi NCR pollution didn’t just affect the air we breathe… it pushed my little one into surgery,” she wrote, calling the last few months especially difficult.
She said the symptoms had become part of their daily life. “Two years ago we shifted here, and from that day chronic cold–cough, nonstop allergies and breathing issues began,” she added. Despite medications and repeated visits to doctors, nothing changed. “No medicine worked, only pollution kept getting worse,” she said.
She added that pollution had damaged her son’s adenoids and tonsils, eventually making surgery unavoidable. “As parents, watching him cry in the hospital broke us in ways words can’t explain,” she wrote.
“We pay taxes… and this is what our kids get in return. It’s time to speak up,” she urged, calling on authorities to act.
The video has since gone viral, clocking more than 1.8 million views in a day and sparking a wave of similar stories from parents in the NCR region.
Actor Richa Chadha, known for her work in Heeramandi and Gangs of Wasseypur, also responded after the clip surfaced on X. “Breaks my heart as a parent to see this,” she wrote. She added, “Yesterday someone said ‘pollution will affect you even if you don’t have children’. Duh, did that need to be spelt out? It’s the adults who are destroying the lives of children… Like our regime has let us down. They have zero solutions for pollution.”
The comments under Pahwa’s post were filled with frustration and fear. One user wrote, “May god bless him with good health. And for those who are saying it’s not because of pollution, please go and visit hospitals. Mostly kids and old people are getting more sick due to this toxic air.”
Another user said they were planning to leave the city altogether: “I will leave Delhi forever in 3 months just for the health of my son… get well soon beta.” A third person urged families to move out if possible: “Priorities matter — your child or Delhi city? Go to the South or North East; you have better air quality and life.”
