This is a moving tale of a small child called Karan Malhotra who had Cerebral Palsy. While kids of his age were at play, he remained ever dependent on his parents. Though the family history showed no such past reports, it was one fatal incident that changed the course of this small child’s life. When the child was all of three days old, he suffered a brain injury that led to his delayed developments. His parents thought that the dark clouds had surpassed them and better days were coming. But little did they know what was in store for them.
When Karan crossed three months, they noticed something very unusual. They noticed that his milestones had not yet developed. Alarmed at seeing his condition, they started approaching several paediatrics but no one could tell exactly what was wrong with Karan. It was not until they flew to Mumbai and consulted a well-known paediatrician that they found that Karan had Cerebral Palsy much to their horror. The paediatrician sat them down and explained that Karan showed some autistic features as well and that explained his lack of social interaction and responses. The news affected both parents greatly. Karan’s father was a surgeon himself and he knew the gravity of the situation. He had lost all hopes that there was nothing that could bring his son back to normal. But they quickly realized that they cannot afford to sit and lament over the situation. The coming days were spent sending Karan for physical rehabilitation and private counselling sessions. Although he showed some signs of improvement, it was not consistent at all. Soon enough, they realized that this option was not working out and they needed to look out for something else. During this time, a colleague of Dr. Malhotra suggested Dr. Malhotra to consult Dr. Alok Sharma and also talked to him about the concept of stem cell therapy.
Patient’s life after treatment at NeuroGen
They took no time to rush down to Mumbai to consult Dr. Alok Sharma at NeuroGen Brain and Spine Institute where they talked at length about the recovery possibility for Karan. Once again, they saw a positivity coming their way and they knew deep inside that Karan’s life will change hereon. So Karan underwent Stem Cell Therapy at NeuroGen Brain and Spine Institute on the 14th of May 2014 and was later put under rigorous rehabilitation program. This program greatly helped Karan to control his aggressive ways and develop his vocational skills. After the first successive therapy, Karan was a different child and his parents could see that his concentration power had improved. Several things like his posture, his constant head nodding and sitting balance improvised. He began to obey and respond positively much to his parent’s delight. Karan went for a consultation after six months and much of his past drawbacks had got better. His vision had reportedly improved as he began watching TV from a distance and could distinguish between animated coloured cartoon characters. He was able to eat on his own and kneel without using any help.
How did it impact the lives of the people around him?
It was a redefining moment for both his parents. Their struggle, tears and sacrifice had paid off. It was almost like Karan was reborn to them. They never had imagined that they would be able to buy their son’s normalcy and when it did happen, they were overwhelmed. Now Karan had improved to the extent that he started securing 37/40 in his English oral exams. He happily interacts with people now; his fear for swimming has lessened and is currently a regular normal school.
