so, tell me your story.

The Obese Boy

Sean is a bubbly boy and has an out-going personality. He is kind and often help whoever that needs his help in school or at public places. He tries his best to be a good student and friend. His teachers often praise him for his kindness and help that he gives out in class during discussions or any other period of time. Thus, Sean’s form teacher decided to appoint him as the class chairman. After a small badge presentation, Sean decides to find someone to celebrate with him.

“Maybe I could go find a few friends to have lunch with. I will treat them to some goodies and that way, they would want to celebrate my achievement with me,” he thought as he walked down to the canteen.

But, as he walks aimlessly in the school canteen to find someone to celebrate with, he saw many eyes stare at him. He hears soft whispers and laughters as he walked deeper into the canteen. By then, tears could be seen in his eyes. He controls them and walks away from the evil crowd that never ever appreciate his presence in school.

Sean is disliked by many because he is an overweight boy and has a distinctive body odour. Many students at school often walk away from him as though he has diseases that could spread . All the more many try their best to avoid him. But on a contrary, Sean is actually a decent and well-mannered boy.

One of Sean’s weaknesses that he seem to have difficulty overcoming it is eating. He loves to eat and when he starts to eat he never stops. In school, he takes his time eating till the recess bell rings to mark the end of the period while at home, whenever he feels hungry, he will either prepare his own food or ask his maid to cook for him. Eating has been his “passion” since he was at a mere age of nine. Furthermore, his parents encourages him to eat all the time. Their priority seemed to be on their career and never their son.

But one day, he yelled silently to himself, “I just cannot take torments anymore! It is up to me to change my life. I want to lead a life just like my other friends,” Sean said in anguish to his Indonesian maid, Surya who was somewhat clueless.

She understood Sean’s feeling but she cannot communicate with him as her English was very poor. Thus, this was what she said hoping that Sean would be able to figure out whatever she wants to tell him. “Okay, adik, you boleh buat. Percaya pada diri kamu.”

Sean cries and then broke out into loud, uncontrollable wails but all Surya could do was to comfort him.

Saturday morning came early for Sean. At seven in the morning, he quietly tip toe to the door and slowly get himself out of the house. Then, he grabs his shoes and runs out along the pathway to the nearest park. He starts to jog and tries to increase his speed but he could only do it for awhile.

Determined, he began to run almost four times a week. Also, he skips both breakfast and lunch. He only eat cereal with milk during dinner. His maid was confused with him. She felt he was a different person. As for his parents, they were too occupied to notice. And so, one night, on his laptop, he “googled” for ways to go on diet. He came across an article about bulimia. He did not understand what it was but he knew that it can help him reduce his weight. Thus, he resorted in being bulimic. He does not know the consequences but all he knew was eat, dig, throw. And he did just that. Almost everyday after eating, he rushes to the toilet to throw up. He does this almost all the time after he eats.

Eventually, he became obsessed with his weight and being bulimic. He never had sufficient food intake due to the skipping of meal, he runs four times a week and he throws up if he eats. His behaviour continued for over three to five months. Soon, he begins to feel weak and often look pale. He did lose weight but it was still not clear to everyone. He was unhappy. This time round, he increased the intensity and only depend on plain water and Marie biscuits. Little did he know, that he was putting his life in danger. Now, everyone in school saw changes in his physical features. Sean often came to school looking pale and weak. He was not attentive in class and did not do very well. When everyone eats, he sits by the corner with his plain water. Day by day he grew weaker. But, he would not stop vomiting after he eats something. He did not realised that he was killing himself.

One day, Sean’s mum, Lisa, hears he phone ringing. It was a call from the hospital saying that Sean fainted in school while doing P.E. Terrified, Lisa called her husband and they rushed to Gleneagles Hospital. There, the doctor told them that Sean was in an unstable condition because his throat and stomach had ulcers and he was having low blood pressure. He was warded and three days later, he was transferred to the Intensive Care Unit because he had infections in the body. The medicine’s effect was too strong on Sean.

All Lisa and her husband could do was to stand outside the room and pray for their sick child.

A few hours later, Sean was still in coma. Doctors said that they will have to patiently wait as he is still in a bad condition. The next day, the tragedy of Sean, the bulimic boy, came to everyone’s attention.

*adik – little brother

*Percaya pada diri kamu – trust yourself