Given that my son has no sense of self preservation at all and will fling himself with no warning from the tallest of walls with just a wild yell and the blind trust that I will catch him, I expect him to collect bruises and scratches the same way he collects interesting stones and leaves.
This, I’m told by my Spanish neighbours, is a typical boy. They think he’s great while I secretly wonder if he was born with a screw loose. But even as I cringe at the antics of my wild child, I know that the bumps and scrapes he is accumulating are a normal part of growing up. I cannot imagine what life must be like as the mother of a haemophiliac.
Always male, these people are afflicted by a genetic disorder which affects the blood’s ability to clot. In severe cases a small scratch may bleed for months or never heal at all. Worrying as external injuries may be, a bang to the head or joints can cause internal bleeding that can be fatal.
Nowadays, children with haemophilia have a normal life expectancy thanks to blood clotting agents and other medical intervention but normal life expectancy is not the same as a normal life. These children and their families need support in coping with this illness.
A Benefit Dinner is being held in Restaurant El Bosque in Tacaronte on Saturday 14th March. Tickets are €22 and raffle prizes include trips, hotle stays and dinners. It sounds like a good night in a great cause as proceeds will go to AHETE, the Asociación de Hemofilia en la Provincia de Santa Cruz de Tenerife.
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