An act of kindness gives legs to hope

Helping hand

From having never walked all his life due to osteogenesis imperfecta, a genetic disorder that makes bones weak, the boy now has hope of walking, courtesy Srinivasan Govindan, an IT professional, who decided to sponsor his treatment.

Suresh underwent corrective surgeries on both his legs at Yashoda Medicare Super Speciality Hospital, recently. He is expected to stand and walk to a reasonable extent in the span of three months, felt Dr Rajendra Reddy, pediatric orthopedic surgeon who conducted the surgery.

"We will keep him in the hospital for three to five days, after which he needs to give his plastered legs complete rest. Once the operated areas heal, he will be put through rehabilitation, where the physiotherapist will teach him to stand and walk," said Dr Reddy.

He added that ideally he would have wanted Suresh to undergo rehabilitation via swimming or hydrotherapy, but such facilities were not presently available in the country.  
Donation

Srinivasan (40), who works for one of the leading IT companies in the City, chanced upon the boy when he visited Samarpan, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) in HSR Layout, to make a donation.

"He stood out because he could not even stand, and would crawl to get around,” he said. Srinivasan talked about the boy’s condition to Dr Reddy, who he met later for personal consultation.

Deterrence

Dr Reddy said if medical intervention had been done early, the deformity could have been corrected. Since cost and post operative care were main deterrents for early medical intervention, Srinivasan felt he could still help the boy by taking care of the financial cost.

After speaking to the NGO's trustee about post-operative care, who assured their support, Suresh was taken for preliminary investigations resulting in the surgery.

So, what made Srinivasan, who himself is afflicted by polio, extend the hand of kindness towards the boy?

A lifetime experience

"Here is deformity, which can be corrected and it can bring visible change in someone's life. But due to some reason, it did not happen. I am independent, inspite of having polio, because my parents were supportive. So, I thought of helping him,” he said.

It has been a lifetime experience for me. I am really humbled by the kindness shown by the doctor, hospital and the NGO, he added. 

As for Suresh, his dream of playing cricket may just be coming true.