At the moment I'm working with a 19 year old 'man' who suffers from Progeria which is so rare that only 48 cases are known in the world. He is 19 in the body of a 7 year old but he has aged like someone who is 90. The longest living case known to man is 23 years old. He lives with his mother, father, brother and sister in a one bed flat which is so run down. It has no windows, has damp and is falling to pieces. The owner charges them £600 for the ‘privilege’ of living there. His parents are unable to look after him as they are both working 7 days a week earning around £5.50 per hour which in London is peanuts. They work as carers for the elderly so they come home tired all the time and he has to sit there all day alone waiting for company. He is also blind.


That is just one of my currant caseload.

I also work with a man who is 42. He lives in a one bed flat with his 18 year old daughter and her 1 year old baby. This man has Arthritis through his body and cannot even close his hands so they are always open. He cannot use even his fingers. His body is giving way from under him and there is nothing anyone can do to stop it. He has been run over 4 times due to the fact that at random times he has blackout panic attacks and he runs but has no idea where he is running and 3 times he has been hit by a car and once by a bus.

His council flat is a tip. It’s got damp and he can’t use anything in their due to the fact that he cannot use his hands. He can just about flush the toilet without calling his daughter. He can’t open taps to wash hands or anything like that. He has 4 families of mice! Not 4 mice I mean 4 families of mice!

Why doesn’t he tell the council you ask? Because over a year ago someone reported that he was selling drugs from his flat. The council decided that he was in breach of his licence agreement and refused to carry out any more repairs to his flat. He pleaded with them as the real dealers lived in the flat above. He suffered till he couldn’t take it no more. He suffered and so did his daughter and grandson. He went to the council and told them that he was not a dealer and that it was the people above. Thanks to the ‘helpful’ council the people in the flat above his found out that he had told on them. They turned all their attention on him. They would boot his door, they would urinate on his doorstep as well as smear excrement on his walls. They would corner him on the few occasions he would go out and beat him threatening him with his life. You would think life is pretty bad for this man yeah? Life was about to get a whole lot worse….

One day his daughter was coming home when some of the gang that lived above cornered her. They took it in turns to gang rape her in the passage way of the flats. Her father heard the screams and came out. He was held down and made to watch helpless as the animals violated his little girl. One after the other they did what they wanted and then laughed at him as they left.
The girl fearing that her boyfriend would not accept her and the baby again after this kept quiet and did not go to the police (Don’t ask I don’t understand it myself.)
This man could do nothing and has been dying inside ever since.

So I ask you should we not be grateful for what we have?
When did we ever thank Allah (swt) for giving us the ability to close our hands?
Should we not be grateful for every moment of peace we receive?
Should we not be thankful for every moment our families are kept safe?

Trust me things can always get far far worse…