Help may be on the way for India's Runa Begum, the desperately ill girl who tugged at hearts around the world when photos of her were published last week.


Neurosurgeon Sandeep Vaishya told Agence France-Presse that the India-based healthcare group Fortis will fly the girl down from her home, in the country's Tripura region, to its hospital near New Delhi. He will examine Runa (or Roona, as spelled in other reports) and conduct an MRI to find out if surgery can help her condition. A Fortis charity will fund an operation, as well, he said.


Begum reportedly has hydrocephalis, which causes cerebrospinal fluid to pool in the skull. Her family is too poor to pay for medical care, according to previous reports.


While Vaishya said he was "hopeful" that the girl could be helped, Chicago-based pediatric neurosurgeon Dr. Peter Heydemann told The Huffington Post that the pressure on her brain could have created irreversible damage. He also suggested Runa might have hydranencephaly, a fluid buildup where the brain is absent.


Hydrocephalus is often treated by inserting a shunt into the affected region and letting the excess liquid drain elsewhere in the body. The procedure is not considered complicated.


But Runa's head has expanded to 36 inches in circumference, and she can no longer "sit upright or crawl," per AFP.


Runa's plight has moved others to action. A campaign from MyGoodAct.com had raised more than $16,000, as of Monday afternoon.


Care to help the fight against hydrocephalus? Visit the Hydrocephalus Association or, in the U.K., Shine.






  • Runa Begum, Child With Hydrocephalus


    Indian daily laborer, Abdul Rahman (R), 18, fans his eighteen month old daughter, Runa Begum, suffering from Hydrocephalus, a buildup of fluid inside the skull that leads to brain swelling, as her mother Fatima Khatun (L) 25, holds her hand at their hut in Jirania village on the outskirts of Agartala, the capital of northeastern state of Tripura on April 13, 2013. Rahman works in a brick factory earning 150 rupees (2.75 USD) a day and does not have the capability to treat his daughter. India's rural development minister said in November 2012, that the country's public health system had "collapsed" in a blunt assessment of his government's failure to extend a social safety net for the poor. (AFP / Getty Images)




  • Runa Begum, Child With Hydrocephalus


    Fatima Khatun 25 (C), kisses the head of her eighteen month old daughter, Runa Begum, suffering from Hydrocephalus, in which cerebrospinal fluid builds up in the brain, at their hut in Jirania village on the outskirts of Agartala, the capital of northeastern state of Tripura on April 13, 2013. Her father, Abdul Rahman, 18, who lives in a mud hut with his family, told AFP he prays for "a miracle" that will save his only child. Doctors told him to go to a specialist hospital in a big city such as Kolkata in eastern India to get medical help but Rahman, who earns 150 rupees ($2.75) a day working in the brick plant, said he does not have the money to take her. (AFP / Getty Images)




  • Runa Begum, Child With Hydrocephalus


    Indian daily laborer, Abdul Rahman, 18, holds his 18 month old daughter, Runa Begum, suffering from Hydrocephalus,a buildup of fluid inside the skull that leads to brain swelling, in front of their home in Jirania village on the outskirts of Agartala, the capital of northeastern state of Tripura on April 12, 2013. Rahman works in a brick factory earning 150 rupees (2.75 USD) a day and does not have the capability to treat his daughter. India's rural development minister said in November 2012, that the country's public health system had "collapsed" in a blunt assessment of his government's failure to extend a social safety net for the poor. (AFP / Getty Images)




  • Runa Begum, Child With Hydrocephalus


    Fatima Khatun (L), 25, sifts through rice next to her eighteen month old daughter, Runa Begum, suffering from Hydrocephalus, in which cerebrospinal fluid builds up in the brain, at their hut in Jirania village on the outskirts of Agartala, the capital of northeastern state of Tripura on April 13, 2013. Her father, Abdul Rahman, 18, who lives in a mud hut with his family, told AFP he prays for "a miracle" that will save his only child. Doctors told him to go to a specialist hospital in a big city such as Kolkata in eastern India to get medical help but Rahman, who earns 150 rupees ($2.75) a day working in the brick plant, said he does not have the money to take her. (AFP / Getty Images)




  • Runa Begum, Child With Hydrocephalus


    Indian laborer Abdul Rahman fans his eighteen month old daughter, Runa Begum, suffering from Hydrocephalus, a buildup of fluid inside the skull that leads to brain swelling, at their hut in Jirania village on the outskirts of Agartala, the capital of northeastern state of Tripura on April 15, 2013. A top private Indian hospital offered April 15 to examine an 18-month-old girl suffering from a rare but treatable illness that has caused her head to swell to more than double its normal size. (AFP / Getty Images)




  • Runa Begum, Child With Hydrocephalus


    Indian daily laborer, Abdul Rahman, 18, holds his 18 month old daughter, Runa Begum, suffering from Hydrocephalus,a buildup of fluid inside the skull that leads to brain swelling, in front of their home in Jirania village on the outskirts of Agartala, the capital of northeastern state of Tripura on April 12, 2013. Rahman works in a brick factory earning 150 rupees (2.75 USD) a day and does not have the capability to treat his daughter. India's rural development minister said in November 2012, that the country's public health system had "collapsed" in a blunt assessment of his government's failure to extend a social safety net for the poor. (AFP / Getty Images)