Do you still have in mind the picture of a girl who played a differently-abled child in the short film ‘Neha Ente Koottukaari’ directed by K Swaminathan? That was Neha D Thampan acting out her own life. She is a class VI student of Cotton Hill UP School, the only child to her parents Deepu Thampan and Jaya D Thampan.
For her acting in the film was a casual affair as she was asked to depict her real self in the film. Neha has also penned a poetry collection ‘Thumbi’, a compilation of the poems she has written over the years.
Good at studies, painting, creative writing, and much more, what is the problem that is worrying their family? Neha can’t move around or sit erect on her own. She has been undergoing treatment for a neurological disorder for the last eleven years.
With the expectation of seeing their only child walking around like other children, her parents took her to a hospital having the best of doctors specialising in neuro, where the medical care started. Each day they looked forward to see some improvement in her. Eleven years passed by, and the parents thought of going in for a second opinion.
“Early this year we went to the hospital as part of the routine check up. Without even thinking that we are her parents the doctor advised us that the treatment won’t help her to recover. He said better to go in for a wheel chair than giving her further treatments,” says Jaya, Neha’s mother. But the heart breaking words couldn’t stop the parents.
“Yes our daughter has some physical difficulties, but that doesn’t make her anything less than our daughter,” she says.They went to Sree Gokulam Medical College, Venjaramoodu. After a detailed diagnosis the parents were told to their dismay that their daughter was not having cerebral palsy but CV Junction Anomaly with Cervico-Medullary compression.
“A child with cerebral palsy cannot communicate and perform this well at school as she does. Having a doubt we referred her for further examination and came to the present conclusion,” says the neuro- surgeon treating her at Gokulam Medical College.
So then what about the wrong treatment she was undergoing for the last few years. “May be if she was treated rightly, by now she would have been on her feet,” says Deepu, her father. Looking at the MRI scan, an immediate operation was advised.
“A very expensive, r i s k y operation, but the thirteenhour surgery was a success,” says Jaya. Neha stayed at home for the last few weeks, reading comic books and trying to learn lyrics of movie songs. When asked about her favourite character, she says, “Its Shikari Shambu.” You can see a pile of ‘Tinkle’ kept by the side of her bed, and when she has the mood, she paints. Neha is a left-hander and as her hands are slightly stiff, it takes time for her to finish drawing. The hardest time the parents faced was to get Neha admitted to a school.
Her parents relentlessly approached many schools, but none was ready to admit her. They all had the same excuses like ‘It is not possible to accommodate a child like her’ or ‘she can’t manage on her own or ‘better you take her to a special school’. Finally before giving up hope, they approached the Cotton Hill LP School.
“Head mistress Premakumari teacher accepted our daughter with open arms and assured that she will be taken care of,” says Jaya. With a sigh of relief of not being denied education, Neha began going to school. With her mother sitting next to her she had no issues about being alone or leaving home.
Be it summer or monsoon, Jaya patiently waits all day, ready to attend to her child’s needs. “Neha loves going to school, learning and making new friends.Even on days she is down with fever, she doesn’t like missing her lessons,” says Jaya.
Hoping for the best, Neha, along with her parents, left for Vellore for physiotherapy sessions at Christian Medical College the other day.