Mother carries son to school for five years
Boy who lost both legs and part of a hand due to meningitis aims to become a doctor
AMoroccan mother who has been carrying her differently-able son on her back for five years so that he could attend school, has been hailed as an “amazing heroine”.
Rabiaa Roumaili was keeping a promise she had made to her son Radwan Sahraoui five years ago, when his legs, part of his right hand and three of the fingers on his left hand had to be amputated owing to complications arising from meningitis. He was just nine years old then.
“When the blood vessels of his legs and hands died, the doctors of the university hospital in Fez were forced to amputate them. I cried afterwards and suffered a lot,” she told the Hespress news site, while literally picking up her son from his school.
“When Radwan came to know he had lost his limbs, he was in shock. He kept crying and asking about the rest of his body. I comforted him and worked on helping him deal with the ordeal. I made a pledge to him that I would never abandon him and that I would always be there for him and with him through every phase of his life, including schooling. Only then did he calm down.”
It took some time, but Radwan gradually overcame his trauma and started to make friends at school and in the neighbourhood, she added.
“Radwan is a sixth grade student at the elementary school, and I carry him on my back, everyday, to school and bring him back home,” the mother said. “He is my priority and I am sacrificing everything for his sake, even though I suffer from a neurological disease that makes me at times lose consciousness.”
Rabiaa said she was forced to carry him on her back as she did not have a wheelchair that was appropriate for her son. “I am afraid the problem will be compounded next year when Radwan moves to middle school as that is farther from our house,” she said.
An appropriate wheelchair or artificial limbs would greatly assist in making sure her son does not face further difficulties that could force him to stop going to school, she added.
Radwan said he was determined to pursue his studies despite the formidable challenges. “My ambition is to become a doctor, a paediatrician who will take care of children and babies so that they would not suffer the way I have,” he said. “That is why I am studying hard and dealing with the various difficulties. I want my dream to come true. My friends are treating me well.”
Schoolteachers said they too were doing their best to assist Radwan overcome his ordeal. “We, as teachers, are committed to keeping this ray of light shining,” Radwan’s teacher Nozha Anwar said. “Radwan is studious and regularly attends school, despite all the difficulties he faces. His mother is an outstanding woman, the embodiment of patience and an amazing heroine,” Nozha added.