Dream comes true for terminally ill boy   By Patrick Joubert   |18 August 2022

Dream come true … Julio with First Lady Linda Ramkalawan (Photo: Louis Toussaint)

Julio Louise, an eleven-year-old boy from Union Vale, English River who is terminally ill, yesterday accomplished one of his biggest dreams when he met First Lady Linda Ramkalawan for the first time.

Julio, who was diagnosed two years ago with hemophilia (an inherited bleeding disorder), recently dreamed of Mrs Ramkalawan as the angel accompanying him on his journey to heaven. Following the dream, he had requested his family to arrange for him to meet up with the First Lady, whom he had only seen on television.

The emotional rendez-vous between First Lady Ramkalawan and Julio, accompanied by his mother, Rebecca Songoire and grandmother Aliette Songoire, took place yesterday morning in the play therapy room at the National Council for Children (NCC). It was the council that had arranged for them to meet.

Also present was the chief executive of NCC, Yasmin Umarji and some staff of the council.

Although Julio hardly spoke during the meeting, and was a bit shy in front of the media, Mrs Ramkalawan managed to get a few words out of him.

She later revealed to all present that he had asked for a play station.

His grandmother explained that since his diagnosis, Julio barely speaks but would spend most of his time either playing digital games or sleeping.

She said that Julio was diagnosed with the disorder in September 2020 after being hit with a body antiseptic roll-on on the right side of the nose while playing with one of his cousins. This caused his face to turn blue, followed by other blue patches on other parts of his body.

He was sent for treatment in India in December 2020 and returned in February 2021. Since then, he has been following treatment locally.

Mrs Songoire said her grandson has not been attending school for the past two years as the family did not see it fit to send him due to the unpredictable bleeding, which can occur from many parts of his body.

She said the family is now considering sending him back to school given that he is developing an interest in electronics. He was last a P4 student at La Rosière school but attending classes at the Mont Fleuri primary school, when he was diagnosed with the disorder. Julio will take his sacrament of confirmation on October 15, 2022.

The grandmother said that due to his constant unpredictable bleeding, Julio needs a lot of care and attention.

She noted that although he does not eat much, he needs to consume food and drinks containing iron supplements.

She added that by seeing the First Lady on television attending the many events for the Children’s Festival, Julio had thought it would be nice to meet her as well, especially through the hard time he is going through.

She said that her grandson feels he will not live long and wants to see some of his wishes fulfilled.

Julio was presented with a hamper basket by First Lady Ramkalawan and other gifts from NCC and its partners. He and his family also held talks in private with the First Lady away from the media.

First Lady Ramkalawan heard of Julio recently when his dream was conveyed to her. She said she was very happy to have met him and to have made his dream come true.

She launched an appeal to anybody who wishes to assist the family, in kind or financially, to do so as Julio needs special care and it is not an easy task.

The First Lady also announced she will be assisting the family to complete construction work on part of their house as a portion of the funds budgeted for it had been used for Julio’s medical treatment.

Julio’s grandmother also said she was very happy that her grandson has been able to fulfill his dream of meeting the First Lady.

Julio is the oldest from a family of three siblings. His two brothers are aged eight and three.

Patrick Joubert