10-year-old progeric boy becomes director of child rights body

A 10-year-old boy, Sreyansh who is suffering from Progeria was made chairman of the Madhya Pradesh State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (MPSCPCR) for a day on Friday.

Sreyansh had expressed his desire to organisation's head Dr. Raghvendra Sharma during a meeting.

"Few days back, Dr. Raghvendra Sharma came to my house. He asked me whether I want to become like him. I said, yes, I want to be like you and roam in red beacon vehicle," said Shreyansh.

Shreyansh also urged the provincial government to work for the welfare of children like him and fulfil their wishes too.

Sharma then asserted that, after meeting Shreyansh he decided that he would fulfil his wish and hold a commission's event under him.

"While having a conversation with Shreyansh, I got to know that he wanted to become the director of (child's rights) commission. Then I decided that whenever we will host any big event, we will call Shreyansh and hold an event under him," said Sharma.

Shreyansh's father Arvind Waghmare said his son was very happy today.

"We have taken him to a hospital in Nagpur where doctors told him that this disease is incurable. Such kids live less, and therefore, it is always better to keep them as happy as possible," Waghmare said.

He further said Shreyansh's twin brother Siddhanth is absolutely normal and they both study in class V.

Progeria is a disorder in which a person shows the symptom, resembling the aspects of aging manifested at a very early age.

According to Progeria Research Foundation, there are around 80 known cases of progeria worldwide, including four in India, in 2016.

A campaign called 'finding 60', spearheaded by Progeria Research Foundation is working towards finding undetected cases in India.