Love is the Best Therapy

Article by nw-news.de, 31.12.2012, Author: Miriam Scharlibbe

Dilsah Sue has a brain defect since birth /  Through meeting the dolphins she learned to walk

Dilsah Sue is nine years old. She can walk, chew by herself and focus with her eyes. She lets herself be touched and makes noises. That was not always the case. 5 years ago the girl was tube-fed. The Doctors had no hope. But Dilsah Sue dumbfounded all prognoses.

Five years ago the ‘Neue Westfälische’ reported the lot of the little girl for the first time. Dilsah Sue’s family were trying to collect enough money for a Dolphin Therapy. Many people donated and made the alternative treatment possible, which radically changed the life of the family.

Dilsah Sue was a planned child for whom her parents, who do not wish to be named, had waited for 9 years.  In the sixth month of pregnancy the Doctors diagnosed a diaphragm hernia. As a result the organs slip into the stomach area and compress the lungs. “We did not know how ill our daughter would be, even if she would survive until birth”, said her mother.

Today Dilsah Sue is nine years old. Together with her birth defect, as a result of which only one of her lungs functions, the girl also suffers from ‘Balkenagenesis’, a defect in the joining of the two halves of the brain. The doctors prognosticated the worst. “I was told not to hope that Dilsah would ever be able to walk.” But the daughter was strong-willed, and made a little progress – a miracle for her parents.  “Dilsah is a fighter and our sunshine”, said her mother.

The child’s zest for life also deeply impressed Theres Ilskens. The woman from Schloss Holte-Stukenbrock visited the play group in Verler Droste-Haus with her son. There they met Dilsah Sue, her younger brother and the mother. Ilskens, herself mother of three, could not forget the fate of the Turkish family. She undertook a sponsorship for the disabled child having learnt of the wish for a Dolphin Therapy for Dilsah Sue. “Many newspaper readers donated money and our Turkish friends organized a festival for Dilsah”, related the mother. Almost 5.000 Euro were collected which paid for the Therapy. The parents, brother and Grandmother flew to Turkey, as did also Theres Ilskens and her family, paying their way, to accompany Dilsah Sue.

“Since then, the progress that Dilsah has made is unbelievable”, said her mum. Before the Therapy it was not foreseeable that she would ever walk. In the Summer of 2007. at the “Onmega Dolphin Therapy & Activity Center” in Antalya, South-West Turkey, therapist Barbara Dietrich introduced the sensitive animals to Dilsah Sue.  On the tenth day the girl was standing on her own legs.

All further improvements followed in the next one and a half years. The mother is certain: “The sonic waves of the dolphins loosened the blockade in Dilsah’s brain.” She is now hoping for a second therapy to stimulate the speech center. “Since the treatment she has been making noises. Perhaps she will be able at some time to tell us something.”

Full of hope Mum rubs her nose on that of her daughter. Dilsah Sue reacts with a chuckle. Both of them look happy. Mother and Daughter will continue to fight. Every new day is a success.

Read the original article (German)