Using art to fight rare diseases

AGAINST ALL ODDS: 15 YEAR OLD ON A MISSION TO HELP CHILDREN WITH MEDICAL PROBLEMS

- Masoka Dube

A Johannesburg teenager, who survived several life-threatening diseases, is now an artist of note who uses his artwork to raise funds for poor children whose families cannot afford medical bills.

Soon after he was born, Yazdaan Ally, 15, from Kensington, was hospitalized on several occasions.

This included when he was admitted to the hospital for the removal of a vascular tumor known as arteriovenous malformation, which was on his right thigh.

At the age of four, he was diagnosed with epilepsy and was treated for it; later he got pneumonia and his right upper lung collapsed.

At the age of six, he was diagnosed with autism and soon after that he was diagnosed with a congenital heart defect.

Despite all this, Ally has recently finalized his book, in which he tells his life story through pictures.

The book mirrors the problems that parents and children who are suffering from rare diseases are going through.

It aims to encourage and educate children and parents to emulate how his family managed to overcome the anxiety of dealing with having a family member who is suffering from different uncommon diseases.