The Solar Kids
Shoaib Ahmed and Abdul Rasheed, two Pakistani brothers are
suffering from a mysterious condition that has left doctors in Islamabad
scratching their heads.
The so-called ‘Solar Kids’, aged 13 and nine, are normal and active
throughout the day, but as soon as the sun goes down they descend into a
vegetative state that renders them unable to move or talk.
According to The Express Tribune, Shoaib and Abdul wake up with the
first rays of the sun, filled with energy and life. They tend to their
house chores, attend school, but they are on a clock to get everything
done by late afternoon, because as the sun travels west, their energy
levels drop and by the time it sets, they are completely paralyzed until
the next day. Their parents say that the boys appeared to be dependent
on the sun this since the day they were born, and in their home village
they are known as the “solar kids”.
“I think my sons get energy from sun,” the boys’ father,
Mohammad Hashim, says. But his simplistic theory has been dismissed by
doctors after they tried keeping the boys in a completely darkened room
during the day, but noticed no bizarre symptoms.
The idea that the sun plays a role in the siblings’ mysterious
condition is also contradicted by the fact that they remain active when
it’s cloudy and even during rainstorms.
The boys, who come from an impoverished family in a village in
Pakistan’s Balochistan Province, are currently undergoing extensive
medical treatment in the nation’s capital, Islamabad.
The solar kids at night when paralyzed
The government is providing them with free medical care, and their
blood samples are being analyzed for clues regarding their condition.
Samples have also been sent to overseas specialists in the hopes of
finding some clues that Pakistani doctors missed.
Javed Akram, a professor of medicine at the Pakistan Institute of
Medical Sciences (PIMS) who is currently trying to help the two kids, is
struggling to find an explanation for their bizarre symptoms.
“We took this case as a challenge,” he said, speaking to AP.
“Our doctors are doing medical tests to determine why these kids remain
active in the day but cannot open their eyes, why they cannot talk or
eat when the sun goes down.”
Interestingly, Shoaib and Abdul’s parents are first cousins, and
some doctors believe that this could be one of the potential
explanations for the boys’ illness, especially since another one of
their four children, a one year old boy, appears to be suffering from
the same condition.
Although doctors have no clue about the cause behind the boys’
illness, there has been a marked improvement in their condition ever
since they were admitted at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences,
in Islamabad.
Express News reported that they actually moved around at night for
the very first time, a few days ago. But Shoaib and Abdul are hoping for
a full recovery, and have grand plans for the future.
“I will become a teacher,” Shoaib said, while Abdul wants to become an Islamic scholar.
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