By Iyyappan Subramaniyan | Founder Managing Trustee
Angel is 3 ½ years old. She was abandoned in a city hospital in Chennai by her teenage, single mother around 3 months before she came to us. Her story is remarkable because she just doesn’t seem to give up!
Angel is mentally challenged and has hydrocephalus - a dangerous condition in which fluid accumulates in the brain, enlarging the head - and sometimes causing brain damage. Luckily, Angel appears to prove the “damage” part wrong! When we got her, she was listless, unresponsive, and almost comatose. And when she eventually did open her eyes, she appeared not to see us and had absolutely no range of movement (ROM) whatsoever.
It’s amazing what physiotherapy, and a good bit of love and care can do for a baby, like Angel. As she began to respond, the first thing she developed was a highly contagious smile! She began to recognize faces, coo, turn over by herself, and now wiggles around delightedly when she hears her name called. She loves the sound of music and kicks and flexes her little feet and arms, as if dancing, even though she is still on her back. She appears to be learning something new each day! She now has almost 80 percent head control, holds her own feeding bottle, is attempting to crawl, can sit up with assistance, repeats words, salutes, shakes hands, and even throws flying kisses to delighted visitors. She absolutely loves physiotherapy time and that’s why she’s making remarkable progress.
True to her name, Angel is a little messenger who comes to us with a softly whispered message - that with a little faith, love,and lots of hope, every challenge – however insurmountable – can be overcome, in time. Angel is one of 106 children at Sri Arunodayam - a home for abandoned mentally challenged children, in the city of Chennai, in Tamil Nadu, India.
Around 16% of the home’s children are mildly challenged, 23% moderately challenged, 38% severely challenged, 19% profoundly challenged, 2% are spastic, and 2% visually challenged.
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