Training in “magical massages” developed by the La Roche-Posay Foundation and distributed by the Everyone Against Cancer association, at the Louis-Mourier hospital in Colombes (Hauts-de-Seine). Thomas Padilla for Le Figaro
To alleviate this ordeal that a child’s illness represents for his family, the La Roche-Posay Foundation teaches caregivers and parents playful massage techniques.
“I walk in my field. I make pretty furrows. I plant carrot seeds, then close the furrows.” Sliding, stroking, tapping, Akila’s fingers mimic the nursery rhyme on the back of her 8-year-old son Sami, wearing his chestnut curls and wearing his favorite football shirt. Sitting cross-legged on his hospital bed, the child squirms with laughter under the hummed massage. “Wait, I’m not donelaughs the young woman. To grow my carrots, I need sun, and of course rain. The carrots are starting to grow… And suddenly, a naughty rabbit arrives, who starts to devour everything!” The hand, light, suspends itself, the mother and the child smile at each other.
Sami was diagnosed last year with type 1 diabetes, a disease that destroys insulin-producing cells in his pancreas and requires daily treatment and close medical monitoring. During a short stay in pediatrics at the Louis-Mourier hospital (Colombes, Hauts-de-Seine)…
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