Uncared for...

I am increasingly troubled by bad things that happen to children.  When I hear news on television or see an internet article about a child being mistreated, it feels like a wave of nausea or a stab in my abdomen.  Recently I read of an eleven year-old boy chained in a barrel, because he was too much trouble for his father and stepmother.  It sounds as though he is either mentally ill or intellectually disabled, but that is not an excuse.  There is no telling from the article if his level of functioning is a cause of his abuse or an effect of prolonged abuse or a vicious circle.

I saw this type of treatment firsthand once.  I spent six weeks of nursing school at Cook County TB Sanitarium.  I don’t remember why the young patient I am going to describe was there.  I don’t remember whether she had a positive TB test or perhaps a fever of unknown origin.  In any event she was about 12 years old and had never been cared for in an appropriate manner. We were told she had been kept locked up with food just shoved in the door to her.  She was more like an animal than a human.  She did not speak.  Her hair had not been cared for in years and was long and terribly tangled and matted together.  She did not know how to use eating utensils.  She was in a private room in isolation, and one evening I was assigned to care for her.

I have no clear recollection of what I did for her that evening about 55 years ago.  I don’t remember if I fed her or tried to comb her hair or changed her clothes.  All I remember is that I had my back turned to her when I was suddenly in pain.  She came up behind me and bit me on the shoulder….hard.  I was wearing an isolation gown, which would have been 2 layers of heavy fabric, over my student uniform which was heavy tightly woven cotton with a pinafore over it.  She bit through at least 4 layers of heavy fabric, and when I undressed that night, I saw the imprint of her teeth in distinct blue marks on my shoulder.  Minus all that fabric, I’m sure she would have broken the skin.

I don’t know what became of her.  I suppose she was institutionalized after her medical situation was diagnosed and treated.  I don’t know if it ever was safe for one to turn his/her back to her.  I hadn’t been warned, and I have no idea what triggered her aggression.  I do know it saddened me to see a child that age so deprived of love and human contact.

The boy in the barrel and this girl are only two examples.  I am sure there are many around the world, and it hurts me to think of it.  Every child should be loved and tenderly cared for.

I used to hear this song on the radio in the late 60s, and I couldn’t listen to it without tears.  I know Christmas is past, but this song comes to my mind as I think of all the children in the world who are in need or in desperate situations.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4R06T14Qac