Pratap's Journey

A MINDS Success Story:

Pratap in his home

Pratap Mahendrabhai Parmar is a 9 year old boy in the 5th standard from the village of Madodhar, which is located within the district of Vaghodia in Vadodara. Pratap suffers from epilepsy. About one year ago, he collapsed while at school and was brought to the doctor. The doctor diagnosed his fainting spell as a result of dehydration and Pratap was discharged.

One day he was playing on a farm and he again collapsed, so his family took him to go see a faith healer who gave Pratap a Ta’wiz, or amulet, to wear around his neck to “remove any evil”. Traditional/faith healers are popular among the villagers and tribal population. The rural community lacks proximity to modern medical services and often prefers to utilize traditional methods of healing which are aligned with their cultural and religious beliefs.

Pratap at his home in Madodhar, pictured with his older sister. Pratap is wearing a Ta’wiz around his neck

After a MINDS education and community awareness presentation at Pratap’s school, Pratap told his teacher about his problem and requested the assistance of the MINDS staff. MINDS came to know of Pratap’s condition and scheduled an appointment for him at a Dhiraj hospital. However, Pratap missed his first appointment because his father, a full-time day laborer was unable to leave work.

In March, Pratap collapsed for a third time and was unconscious for about an hour. His family contacted MINDS, and the MINDS staff was able to arrange emergency transport but due to the high cost of getting an MRI, Pratap was transferred to a government hospital (Sayaji General Hospital) and was able to receive a MRI free of cost. The average cost of an MRI in Gujarat is 6000 INR, an unaffordable amount for most villagers.

At this hospital, Pratap received a diagnosis of Epilepsy and received medication. Since being on the medication Pratap has not suffered from any seizures. However, during a visit to his home in May, MINDS staff found that Pratap had stopped taking his medication due to side effects. Pratap’s parents weren’t at home because they work full time so the staff was unable advise his parents on the importance of continuing medication. A follow up is planned with his family to discuss why Pratap has stopped taking medication and what can be done in order to mitigate his side effects and ensure he stays on a prescribed course of treatment to prevent his seizures from recurring.

Written by: Amul Joshi, MINDS Gujarat Director