Tags:
Journalism of Courage
Ever since I read as a student the poem, 8216;The Boy on the Burning Deck8217;, the young Casabianca remained etched in my mind as a solemn example of determination and discipline. The poetess would have found this day another subject fit for her poetry. In Chou Ta-Kuan. Chou Ta of Taiwan took birth through artificial pregnancy and after a prolonged medical treatment. Joining school when he was five, he began writing his diary and that too in poetry! His skill with violin had made him the darling of school.
Hardly ten, he was diagnosed with malignant muscular cancer. After two operations, 12 chemotherapies, 30 cobalts, 60 illuminations and a major amputation, he insisted on participation in the final medical appraisal conference, where the staff welcomed the little hero with applause.
After the appraisal, he wrote in his diary: 8220;Doctor is the judge sentencing to life imprisonment but I am a patient, not a criminal. I want to bravely go on living.8221;
His diary read: 8220;Beethoven had two deaf ears, Helen Keller two blind eyes, Feng Syi two disabled legs, I still have one leg. I want to walk all over the beautiful world!8221;
The scourge of cancer could not dumb down this victim. 8220;Every day,8221; say his parents, 8220;he took his tumour in the hand and said: 8216;Tumour is the Bull Demon King of Life, and doctor is the Buddha of Life8230; I can create you with one hand and destroy you with another.8217;8221; The tumour shrank to one-third through his will. With his brother together he dreamt of inventing a solar accelerator to kill cancer cells.
He versified: 8216;In front of family, I dare not cry. / In front of medical people, I cannot cry. / In front of Cancer Devil, I need not cry. / If I just weep and sniffle Cancer Devil will howl with laughter.8217;
He had a programme for his admirers: 8220;Since the spring when my right leg grew a tumour, / We planted a tree every day: / In hospitals we planted trees of health, / In churches we planted trees of love, / In schools we planted trees of hope, / One day, / We will also plant ourselves as a tree, / Generations planting on and on8230;/ Will grow and become forests of health, / Forests of love and forests of hope.8221;
Taipah Cultural Centre introduced to a select group Chou Ta-Kuan. This miracle boy8217;s message reads: 8220;Life is priceless8230;8221; With the help of a Foundation trying to give a message of life, he wrote two books in the ten years he lived, bravely fighting the cancer devil.
