Zey Yar Aung
When Zey Yar Aung was 9 months old he developed a fever and fell into a coma. He was in the coma for 5 days. His family took him to their local clinic where they gave injected him with some medicine. Afterwards, the child recovered and they took him home. However, his family noticed that he continued to have cramping in his legs and hands. As he got older, his speech was not developing properly and he could not walk. He could only pull himself along on his arms, and he has never gained the use of his legs. His mental development eventually caught up, but he could not walk and he has weakness in his arms. He has never been to school, but his oldest sister spends time teaching him at home and she will also be his carer when he travels to Chiang Mai for treatment. Zey Yar Aung’s family are from Karen State in Burma. They own their own land but only grow enough food to feed the family, they have no income and receive money from one of Zey Yar Aung’s sisters who works in Bangkok.
In the past, Zey Yar Aung’s family have tried traditional medicine to treat his condition. A practitioner applied cream to the child’s whole body, but nothing improved. Six months ago, his family took him to Rangoon Hospital, they visited the hospital 3 times, but each time they received a powder to take orally (it was a traditional medicine). However, nothing improved. It cost them 100,000 Kyat (US$100) at Rangoon Hospital. Zey Yar Aung’s sister in Bangkok sent them the money to pay for this.
Zey Yar Aung’s family had heard about Mae Tao Clinic (MTC) from people they knew. They told them that the clinic would help the child for free. Zey Yar Aung traveled with his sister to the Thai-Burma border. It took them one day to get there and cost them 7,000 Kyat (US$7). His sister has to carry him everywhere they go. His sister says she hopes he can walk eventually and hopes that one day he can go to school. Zey Yar Aung has told his sister that he wants to get well so that he can go to school like other kids.