TIRUPPUR: The family of a 19-year-old boy suffering from a rare disorder has sought help from the district administration for livelihood and to meet his medical expenses. V Abinesh, son of S Vasanth Kumar, who runs a tea stall in Palladam, has several congenital issues.
Vasanth told TNIE, “Abinesh has been suffering from various health complications ever since he was born. in a government hospital in Mayiladuthurai in 2014. He weighed just a kilogram and his skull was very unusual. Besides, he didn’t have ears. A special surgery was conducted and holes were created through which he was able to hear.”
When he was ten months old, in 2015, the parents realised that Abinesh struggled to drink even milk. Diagnosis revealed that his food pipe was narrow. Besides, a tooth was growing in his throat, which obstructed the food pipe.
Another surgery was performed in a private hospital in 2016 to remove the tooth. But the narrowness of the food pipe couldn’t be resolved. Doctors advised a temporary solution to offer just milk. But, over a period of time, milk became his only food. Every day, he consumes 2.5 litres of milk, Vasanth said.
His relief was short-lived as he noticed his son had become dull and almost inactive, “His alertness reduced and once again we consulted doctors, who advised a skull repair surgery. I consulted several specialists, but they all said the rectification surgery would run into several lakhs of rupees. Besides, they did not guarantee my son would recover after the surgery. So I decided to continue with minimum medication that would keep him alive for as long as possible. For the past few years, we are getting assistance of Rs 1000 every month from the State government, but it is is not enough to meet his medical expenses.”
The silver lining for Vasanth amid the gloom is that Abinesh completed Class 10 and secured 184 marks.
Responding to his petition, an official from the health department said, “The victim suffers from multiple health complications. The primary illness is narrow food pipe. Besides, he has skull malformation which is a rare deformity of the skull. The boy also suffers from speech impairment. We will be forwarding his petition to social welfare and other departments.”
An official from the social welfare department said, “We will check with the list of scheme available as per the eligibility of the applicant and his medical condition. Both financial assistance with and without subsidy will be arranged after getting opinion from doctors and letter of consideration from district unit of Differently abled welfare department.”