“I don’t know what’s wrong with my daughter. Why she swells up, why pus comes out of her eyes and nose… We have been going to doctors for 2 years, had many tests and surgeries, but nothing helps I look at her and my heart breaks… she’s so cheerful, restless… she walks, chatters, laughs, but in a matter of seconds her face can swell up, she writhes in pain and cries.”

“It’s been 12 years that I’ve been fighting for my son’s life; it’s been 12 years that a ‘stone of sadness’ has been weighing on my heart, getting heavier every day…” – So says the mother of little Saba, who has had cerebral palsy, epilepsy and mental retardation since birth.

21-year-old Luka is an eternal child for his single mom Irina. Irina got used to it and even thanks God that she had a chance to be Luka’s mother. When he was born, “good people” advised her to leave him right in the maternity hospital and forget about him… “You condemn yourself to eternal torment,” they said, but Irina was ready for all the trials, just to be together with her son!

Andria puts his hand into a grater and grates it like a vegetable until scratches with blood appear, then he bites his both hands hard. This closet, where he and his sister are locked up all day, while their mother Tea is at work, infuriates him. Ana watches all day long as her brother sways from side to side and bites his hands. There is a strong smell of urine in the room, because 12-year-old Andria has run out of diapers.

“Don’t be afraid, mommy, everything will be fine.” – “Don’t be afraid, my little girl…” – the mother, exhausted by anxiety, comforts her daughter. Eight-year-old Khatuna has not yet taken her first steps and has not made her parents happy with her first words. There are so many unspoken feelings in her heart, so many steps not taken, non-made friends, non-happening stories, and so many other things that would make her life more joyful. The mother’s heart can’t take it anymore. The start of Khato’s story should begin with the operation, and everything that happened before it will remain as a bad dream.

“Leave him and live your life! He will bring you nothing else but problems,” they used to say to the mother learning about the son’s diagnosis. “You know, such children don’t live long.” “He will bring you lot of suffering!” Maya have heard many more hurtful words. Even relatives and friends turned their backs on them. But despite everything, she has chosen the son. And they were left alone in the whole world, but they are together!
Nikoloz is bedridden, he does not walk, cannot sit on his own, does not talk, he only reacts to sounds sometimes and hums. Mom keeps taking care of him as in his first days of his life. Her son’s condition sometimes improves, but frequent attacks and seizures he has seem to nullify all her efforts. She puts her son’s health together bit by bit from scratch, again and again…