Paralyzed boy slightly improved, say doctors

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Heryanto, an elementary school student who was paralyzed during a suicide attempt two months ago, started learning to talk again on Monday.

Guided by his parents, the 13-year-old student was seen trying to say his name and the names of his visitors at the Hasan Sadikin Hospital in the West Java capital of Bandung.

However, it was clearly difficult for him to even say a single name. He is also still unable to count to more than five.

Besides being taught how to talk again, Heryanto was also learning to walk. His father, Suryana, and mother, Karni, demonstrated to the visiting journalists and guests how Heryanto was being taught to walk at the Perinatal Intensive Care Unit at the hospital.

Suganda Tanuwidjaja, one of his doctors, acknowledged that Heryanto's overall condition was improving.

Despite the improvements, he said that a team of doctors at the hospital would have to continue attempting to stimulate the nerve endings in Heryanto's brain, or otherwise Heryanto would suffer permanent brain damage within six months.

He suggested that Heryanto would need to stay in the hospital for some time to come.

Heryanto, a student at the Muara Sanding elementary school in the West Java town of Garut, attempted suicide on Aug. 22 by hanging himself with a cable.

He was reportedly upset because one of his teachers had asked him to contribute Rp 2,500 (30 US cents) for the purchase of school equipment, but his parents could not afford the money. According to the doctor, he had suffered Edema cerebrikini resulting from a lack of oxygen to the brain.

This often leads to brain damage, paralysis and other disabilities, even if the patient comes out of the coma.

Heryanto's case has caught the attention of senior government officials and artists, including West Java Governor Danny Setiawan, Yogyakarta Governor Hamengkubuwono X and singer Sophia Latjuba. They have visited Heryanto on separate occasions.

Sophia visited him last week, and presented him with various gifts, including a guitar donated by guitarist Piu from the popular band Padi.

During her visit, Sophia was flanked by her daughter Eva, and Dwi Ria Latifa, a legislator from the country's largest party, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan).