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“Both my sons were born healthy and normal. Up until their teenage life, there was nothing - no sign, no symptom that could have warned us. Raja turned 14 and his legs got weak all of a sudden, he couldn’t walk properly and was soon dependent on us for every little thing. His brother, Thennavan was just 11, then and would help us look after Raja, but when he turned 18, he too…” - Guganeshwari, mother
Pictures of their children that these parents keep looking back at, wishing things never changed.A disease that usually strikes the old, hit these brothers in their teenage
Rajaguru and Thennavan are 36 and 33, respectively. They were diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, an age-related degenerative brain condition, which causes parts of your brain to deteriorate. It causes slowed movements, tremors, balance problems and more. The average age at which it starts is 60 years old but in extremely rare cases, like that of Rajaguru and Thennavan, it can happen to young adults.
“Our children are completely dependent on us, with no life of their own. They can’t walk, talk, eat or even move without help. Our only way to communicate is sign language, something we managed to learn over the years. So many hospitals, so many doctors, but only one response - ‘This disease has no cure’. For years, I just wished for them to recover, at least show some improvement, and now, doctors say it is possible.” - Manoharan, father
There is a treatment that can give them some control over their lives, but it is out of this family’s reach
For more than 20 years, Manoharan and Guganeshwari have been fighting for their kids, not knowing what the future holds. For the first time, these parents are hopeful that their children can show some signs of improvement. Whatever little control they can have over their life. They have been advised to get a treatement called magnetic resonance-guided focused ultrasound surgery (MRgFUS).“They were just little children when I last heard them talk to us or watch them run and play. It’s been so long that the memory itself has faded. If this treatment can help them even walk, I am ready to put my all. I can get back my sons. But where do we get 40 lakhs from? It’s next to impossible for us.” - Guganeshwari, mother
Manoharan is a retired government clerk and receives INR 15,000 as monthly pension. Guganeshwari works in the treasury department with a monthly income of INR 30,000.
“It might seem like a good enough amount for a middle-class family to survive... But the fact is, more than 30,000 rupees goes for the treatment of my children every single month. We are barely able to manage the rest of our expenses. We have no savings nothing to help us afford this treatment.” - Guganeshwari, mother
Strength is in unity and these parents need us to be their strength in bringing back their sons. Together we can give them a second chance at life.
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