In 2022, at 22 years old, Rithesh left his home in India to pursue a Master's degree at the University of California, Riverside, carrying with him the dreams and hopes of his entire family. He earned his degree, found his footing, and started building his career — thousands of miles from home, on his own terms. He's the kind of person who makes distance feel smaller. The one who calls every Sunday, who remembers everyone's birthdays, who quietly holds people together without ever asking for anything in return. He's 25 now. He was just getting started.

On May 24, a routine dive off the coast of Destin, Florida, ended in silence.

The water was shallower than it looked. Rithesh's head hit the sea bed, fracturing his C1 and C5 vertebrae and severing nearly all connection between his brain and his body. His heart stopped at the scene. For three minutes, he was gone. Paramedics brought him back, intubated him, and rushed him into emergency surgery.

Doctors removed the shattered vertebrae and fused the bones around it to hold his spine together. A ventilator now breathes for him. A tube feeds him.

He is alive. He is aware. And against every odd, he is improving. Days ago, Rithesh couldn't feel anything below his neck. Now he feels pressure in his arms and legs. His left arm has started to move — barely, but unmistakably.

But the hospital in Florida is not equipped for the months/years of extensive spinal cord rehabilitation he needs. His best chance is in India — close to his family, with access to specialized long-term care. The problem is getting him there, and everything that comes after.

The total cost of Rithesh's transport, treatment, and rehabilitation is approximately $300,000.

That covers everything — a medically equipped air ambulance with a critical care team for 20+ hours in the air, the hospital bills already accumulating here in the U.S., months of extensive spinal cord rehabilitation in India, respiratory therapy to wean him off the ventilator, and the adaptive equipment he'll need to rebuild any degree of independence. It's not one expense. It's all of them, compounding every day. The medical bills alone are already beyond what his family can bear.

What we're asking for:

1. Air ambulance transport to India

2. Hospital and ICU costs incurred in the U.S.

3. Extensive spinal cord rehabilitation (long-term)

4. Respiratory therapy and ventilator weaning

5. Medical equipment and ongoing care

What we really need from you:

A chance to give our brother/son/friend the best possible fight — surrounded by the people who love him most.

If you can give, anything helps. If you can't, a share goes further than you think. One repost reaches someone we never could have found on our own.

Three years ago, Rithesh boarded a flight alone with nothing but a plan and his family's belief in him. Now we need to get him on one more flight, this time, to bring him back.

Thank you for reading this far, for caring and for whatever you're able to do.

Jayadeep Ganta, Brother

Venu Gopal Ganta, Father

Madhavi Ganta, Mother