On May 13, La Vanguardia published a report that touched the hearts of many readers. And there are for that and for much more. The text told the story of Jordi, a 21-year-old young man, who suffers from autism, who spent almost four years voluntarily secluded in his room playing video games almost non-stop. He only went out for occasional visits to the bathroom. At the height of its closure, he was playing for “3 or 4 days in a row”, explained his mother (Laura, 44). Their cloistering began shortly before the outbreak of the pandemic and the situation did not begin to improve slightly until four years later. Specifically, two months before the publication date of the article. Laura explained to this newspaper that she did not receive any help from the administration for her son. Nor by means (Jordi has two brothers), diagnosed with Asperger’s. The story stirred consciences. So much so that a businessman, who prefers to remain anonymous, has decided to selflessly help the family.
He is 62 years old, Catalan and goes by the initials M.S.M. He admits that Jordi’s story had an impact on him. Also Laura’s integrity and her way of dealing with the problem. “I am impressed by his attitude towards life”, he explains to La Vanguardia. At the same time, he does not understand how the administrations have not joined the family “in such a clear case”. “It’s outrageous”, he underlines. He is especially annoyed by the times when they haven’t even responded to Laura’s complaints. Jordi’s mother asked “several times” to admit him to the hospital during the day. “I’m still waiting for them to answer me”, he explained to this newspaper.
In the report it was explained that Jordi was getting better thanks to a therapy he had started at the Parc Taulà hospital in Sabadell, the city where he lives. As a result of this slight improvement (he still showed and shows, although to a lesser extent, a significant addiction to video games), he had proposed to start a course in September at the Joso school, in comics and visual arts (li likes to draw a lot). Laura revealed in the article that they would try to pay him despite the delicate financial situation they are going through. And this is where the entrepreneur wants to influence, who has committed to pay the tuition fees and all the monthly payments for the next five years, the duration of the course. And not only that. He will also take charge of all the arrangements to legally incapacitate Jordi and find a job for Laura’s husband, who works in a restaurant that will close soon. “In my group we also have a hospitality business and we will see what we can do there. And if I can’t hire him, I will circulate the curriculum among business colleagues”, adds M. S. M., who intends to visit the family to meet them.
The fact of the appearance of this businessman plus the non-contributory pension of 400 euros that Jordi has started receiving recently, have made him recover a little. “With these 400 euros, you pay for a swimming course and a nutritionist to help you lose weight,” explains Laura.
His spirits have risen to the point where he leaves the house almost every day, something he didn’t do before. On Monday, to do an hour of sports with the group of people with whom he shares the group therapy; on Wednesday, to go to therapy (the Taulà guide team comes to pick him up at his home); on Thursday, to meet other young people in a civic center in Sabadell; and on Friday in theory he should go to a self-defense course, but at the moment he hasn’t been encouraged to go there yet”, explains Laura. He even spent some weekend afternoons with former classmates from the Xalest special education school, where he had studied.
Every night, moreover, he accompanies his mother to take the dog for a walk, and at 10 p.m. he turns off the computer himself and goes to bed to look at his mobile phone until he falls asleep. Laura is very appreciative of this latest development. “When it’s worse, I barely sleep. He is very obsessive and asks a lot for my support, and constantly wakes me up.”
Laura admits to being expectant. “I’m in a better mood, but it seems a little unreal that things are starting to go a little better. However, I have to be on top of him to go to the activitiesâ€.
M. S. M., for his part, hopes that this article “helps to raise awareness”. He explains that he has no children and that, “instead of giving money to oenagés”, he helps “in particular cases” related, above all, to health. “You have to give back to society what it has given you. Life has given me a privilege and I think I have to give it back so that others can live a little better”, he concludes.
