Advertisement
Over a decade ago, Martin Pistorius was just like any other 12-year-old boy living in Southern Africa. No one ever predicted that he would ever return from school one day and fall ill with a neurodegenerative disease that would slowly take away all of his abilities to communicate and interact with the environment and people around him.
His parents could only watch hopelessly as their son "never, ever got better."
Pistorius' doctors diagnosed him as being unable to see, hear, or interact with the world around him, even though his body was still fully functional. For ten years, Pistorius remained in this state. He was shuttled from care center to care center, until one day, one of his carers noticed that there was a distinct glimmer in his eye.
New tests were run; Pistorius was, in fact, cognizant of the world around him and able to communicate with others. He'd been able to do so for almost ten years.
Pistorius had fallen ill when he was 12. By his own assessment, he had regained awareness of his surrounding by the time he was 14 or 15.
That was when his mother realized that her son had overheard a confession she'd made at his bedside, back when she'd thought he was unable to understand her.
"I said to him one day, 'I hope you die,'" Pistorius' mother admitted. "And I had no idea that he understood. And I'm very, very sorry I said it." She had tears in her eyes as she spoke.
Pistorius, however, was very forgiving of his mother. He could understand her despair, "My mother often felt that she wasn't a good mom, and I couldn't tell her that, no, she was doing great. She is a good mother."
After so many years of being treated as a "ghost," Pistorius has accumulated many abusive experiences. People verbally, physically, and sexually abused him during his time in care centers.
But while others might become upset or angered by these experiences, Pistorius simply takes them in stride and advises everyone to be "compassionate." It's impossible to know who can understand what, and how much of what you say can affect their life. It's simply best to treat everyone well
You can watch Pistorius talk about his own experiences here:
