Jammu, 17 August (H.S.): An Army doctor serving in Duggan helped Akshay Sharma, a poor young boy from village Duggan to speak.

Moved by the family’s eight years of struggle to get the boy cured, the Army doctor carried out basic check-ups and found that with proper therapy, the boy could learn to speak.

As no such facilities were available in the remote village, the doctor studied speech therapy techniques and began working with Akshay in his free time and taught the boy sounds, then words and finally simple sentences.

After months of practice, Akshay began to speak with confidence and the first time he called out to his parents, their eyes welled with tears. For them, it was not just a sound but a miracle and their home which was once filled with silent prayers, now echoed with Akshay’s joyful chatter.

Akshay Sharma was born with a cleft lip and palate and he underwent surgery at the age of three but still could not speak. His parents-struggling with poverty were unable to afford treatment and had almost lost hope of ever hearing their son’s voice but the Army doctor helped their boy to speak.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Krishan Kumar