I was
feeling really stressed with my study work and I wanted to put my mind to a
lighter moment and take a break. Facebook was boring me. For some reason I had
the idea of searching a very odd phrase in my Google search bar. “People who never get old”; May
be I was having second thoughts to the existence of Peter Pan.;). The second item
from my search list occupied me. I opened the link. I wanted to see someone who
never got old but instead I saw someone who is very sick and would die young, a
boy who can never get old. It’s not that he couldn't grow old it was that he
would never get a chance to!
It was on youtube,a Channel five documentary "Extraordinary
people: the Boy who will never grow old". The boy’s name was Stuart Wickison, he
was 19 when they took that video. He was suffering from a genetic
disorder called the Duchene Muscular Dystrophy (DMD). DMD is a genetic
condition that affects only boys. They're
born able-bodied and only find out the full prognosis in their teens. DMD is
caused by mutations of the gene which produces dystrophin, a protein essential
for the healthy development of muscles in the body. Without it all muscles
gradually cease to function causing gradual paralysis. |
| Stuart in his wheel chair |
The
narrator says one line which hit my mind so hard, “Although his body is failing
him, his mind is focused on living!” I felt so bad for the boy when I heard
that line, there are many young people his age who give up on life without an
effort and a dream, and there he was, the boy who had a dream to become an
artist and to make his work speak a message of strength, that weaknesses can be
overcome but no time to live and to get old. Sadly, in August 2011 the boy was found dead in a lake. It is said he
drove his wheelchair into the lake and committed a suicide.
Stuart had said “No one knows the meaning of life, you are born to die. What about the
in-between?? What about the living?? Well.. I am here for that, not the rest. I am not here to suffer.... I am here to make
an impact!” Hats off for that boy’s words. However disabled his body was, he
had a spirit to fight for his dreams, may be he didn’t live up to his words but
those words meant a lot coming from a guy who was as much as a non-living
object in a corner without the help of his wheelchair. Stuart gave me the feel of
harbouring a dream, a dream to live up to. He rekindled the power of spirit for
hard work. With such a little time to live, he made me realize of al the due
dates in my life, the date of my next assignment, the due date of those vivas
and those exams coming up, of course i am not going to die, but i can only live
and work hard before that date comes. I can do nothing after that moment
passes, it will be like i died as than examinee and can never ever live to give
it again!!!
You might
say I am getting paranoid watching that kid’s documentary, but it is just that
everything has an expiry date and we should realize that and make the most out
of everything! thank you Stuart. May your soul R.I.P.
P. S. The Documentary is in three parts on youtube.
Part One - http://youtu.be/ZWQK3KcRcr4
Part Two - http://youtu.be/AqjsBUj2pvw
Part Three - http://youtu.be/diZE5Tskg3A
