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| Sunday, 2 June 2002 |
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| News Business Features Editorial
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Struck by a mysterious disease by SASHI PRABHATH RANASINGHE For parents, children are the most precious resource on earth. The hope of every couple who enter marriage is to produce a healthy child from one's own flesh and blood.
This sad story is about five children who came into the world as "normal children" but became disabled through an unknown and mysterious disease, while their parents looked on helplessly. The ill fated family live in the Maddegama Grama Niladhari area of Meegahatenna of the Agalawatte electorate. This is how Premadasa Mallawaarachchi, father of the disabled children tearfully relates the onset of the disease and the family tale of misery: "I am now 47-years of age. I had five children but now, one is dead. My eldest son died of this disease two years ago. Doctors say that within a short period even my other four kids will die. "At birth, none of them had any illness. I have now been married for 22 years. Thusitha, my eldest son, attended school up to the third grade. Then, his arms and legs began to show signs of twisting. His healthy limbs emaciated and he became lame. As his spine was affected, he could not sit up and needed somebody's help to lift himself up from a sitting position. Even though his body changed so much, he said that he did not feel any pain. He was fully conscious all the time. But, at 19 years of age, he died. After his death, my second son too started showing signs of this illness. Later, the other children too developed the disease. "We must have committed a great crime to see our children being destroyed before us. Quite a few doctors from England examined our children and told us that they could not cure this disease. Daily, we die a living death, seeing the suffering of our children." "All the medical specialists we consulted told us our children will invariably die between the ages 20-27 years. The children are bed-ridden without even being able to handle the basic functions such as eating and using the toilet." The medical opinion affirms that this disability which has no cure, is due to an incompatibility of the blood components of the parents. In this age of stupendous medical advances, none have been able to discover how to treat the disease. The poverty-stricken parents are trying hard to fulfil the nutritional and other needs of their off-spring during their short lifespan. Though previously they had received small donations from benevolent individuals, Mallawarachchi says he does not receive any aid now. Since he cannot leave his children unattended, Mallawaarachchi cannot spare time even to work as a daily paid labourer. Though these invalid children face an uncertain tomorrow, cannot we as human beings lend some assistance to assuage their hunger as long as they live? Send in your contributions to Account No - 2 013257 - 7 of H.W. Somawathi Karunaratne, People's Bank - Pelawatte. |
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