Ziya and her mother teach us the value of strength
Dated : 18 Aug 2020
When Ziya (name changed) was supposed to learn running and trouble her parents to catch her by 18
months of age, had the fate of getting admitted for three weeks in a private hospital secondary to
excessive thirst and urination and in the critical state called diabetic ketoacidosis. Ziya endured all those
needle pricks and pain for those 21 days, and her parents hoped she would grow as an average child
with no such admissions again. But fate wanted to play spoilsport again at 3 years of age to make her
sick still and get admitted for the second time back in six months to the same diabetic ketoacidosis. The
period where a child learns to test the taste buds with all sorts of food and play with peers became the
period of two near-death experience for Ziya. When the parents once again determined to make her
hale and healthy, yet as the saying goes – Misfortune never comes single – the parents had personal
issues and got separated. Mother got the custody of Ziya—the mother, who herself could not complete
her primary education, with a meagre monthly income of Rs. 2,500 (working as a housemaid), still had
all the will and courage to support Ziya and her siblings.
Despite all toils and hard times, when the mother wants to save her child all alone and fight for the life
of her child, she was able to do all this for the next 5 years, striving very hard to support her loving
daughter with all the needs. But as every coin has two sides, she was finding it exceedingly difficult to
procure insulin and monitor Ziya's blood sugar at home and do proper insulin titration. Was the mother
deterred in providing support to her child?? The answer is always a “No”. She was determined yet
undeterred to support Ziya. Ziya is very sharp and keen to go to her neighborhood school studying in 2 nd
standard. But as time passed with only bare minimum support from her family, the mother broke down
and resulted in the child getting admitted to having a third near-death experience by 7 years of age. By
this time, Ziya had developed other complications (related to poorly controlled diabetes) also, such as
Short stature (poor growth) and liver disorder and at remarkably high risk of developing problems in
vision and kidneys. Ziya is the strong daughter of a brave mother, and fortune favors the bold. And
hence Ziya could survive this episode well. But the question still lingers and tortures the mother's mind,
what will happen, when her child must suffer this all again? Can’t my child be a normal girl?? She has all
the will to restart her child’s beautiful journey again, with the hope that - When you want something, all
the universe conspires in helping you achieve it….
And ACT-D Society, came as a blessing of God to help Ziya and the dejected mother. Hopefully, the ACT-
D society will be able to support Ziya till she completes her basic schooling and becomes self-
dependent…