25 year old Bablu Pashi from Allahabad in India suffers from gigantism. The disease causes excessive growth of body tissue. His right arm is so bog that it hurt him when he is washing and he is not even able to walk for 10 minutes without taking a break.Bablu said, ‘ I’ve been this way since I was born. As I got older my hand kept growing and growing. The weight of my arm is 20 kilos and while washing it up it starts to hurt. I am not able to walk. I walk for 10 minutes and then for 10 minutes I have to rest. These are the difficulties I face.’
As a young man Bablu was called “devil child” by his neighbors and also has to face severe abuse in his home town. In order to seek proper treatment, he moved to Mumbai but he has struggled to find work in the city. And he still continues to face prejudice on a daily basis.
He added, ‘I came to Mumbai so that I can work here and earn for myself. I also want a proper treatment so that I can look for a job. No one wants to help me in this city. If I go to some shop for work, they beat me and ask me to leave. They don’t even let me in. I don’t even have the money to buy food for myself – I don’t have anybody to help me.’
His arm has even prevented him from finding a wife or fulfilling his dream of having children.
He said, ‘Women notice me but they turn a blind eye or walk far away from me. Why would they even talk to me? They see my condition and they prefer to stay away. If my arm was normal, I would have been living with my family. I would have my own family and kids. I would have married like others do.’
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