Journalistic ambitions of SHS graduate foiled by paralysis

The hopes of Seidu Alhassan, a disabled Senior High School graduate, to become a journalist seem to dwindle with each passing day as his numerous job applications to media houses are turned down due to his condition.

Seidu believes that his disability has been a major hindrance to the fulfilment of his childhood dream, arguing that no business-minded individual would employ a disabled SHS graduate with no formal training.

Despite the numerous discouraging encounters, Seidu Alhassan seeks comfort in the phrase, “Anything is possible”.

Though he admits that his predicament poses a great challenge, Seidu is relentless in the pursuit of his dream to become a journalist. He has resorted to self-education, reading wide on books related to the profession.

“Sometimes I feel like I can achieve it, and other times I feel like I cannot. I consider my age and my current situation. If you look at my current situation, for now, I am not engaged in any business. I am not schooling. It is just challenging,” he admitted.

The embittered cripple confessed that he sometimes gets suicidal thoughts when he is faced with the harsh realities of life.

“If I look at my age and the impact I have made for myself, by this time I should have been a responsible person. But looking at the disability that placed some limitations on my life, sometimes I feel very sad. So sometimes I will sit down and say no, if you commit suicide, then that will be the end of life and you will not be there to compare yourself to friends, siblings and other people. So if you just commit suicide,” Seidu disclosed.

Seidu Alhassan’s condition started when he was age nine when his legs began shrinking after he felt he had stepped on fire. Attempts to treat the condition proved futile, rendering him a cripple.

He narrated that his condition affected his childhood education, with his highest level of education being the Senior High School level. He moved to Accra after completing SHS, and since been searching for ways to make ends meet.