One of the treatment sessions that marked me the most during this stay was in Battambang, at the “Enfant d’Asie” (Children of Asia) centre, on virtually the last day. I must confess that by this time we had already given a lot of difficult treatment and I was starting to tire a little.

This young lad had been placed on my table, but nobody had told me his name or age (he was perhaps 3-4 years old). He was quite clearly disabled physically and almost certainly mentally too. At the end of the treatment, he fell asleep, just as you see him in the photo: he slept for 2 hours in this position of total relaxation.

I had limited experience of osteopathic treatment with disabled children, so I asked Patrick to check the work I’d done. When he asked me what this child’s disability was, I went to see the people from the centre to find out.

In fact, nobody knew this child who had been found 2 days beforehand, abandoned by his family at the town market, without any documents or information. I was told that this often happened in Cambodia, because disabled children were a real burden for families who had nothing.

After this treatment, it took me a few minutes before I was able to take another young patient.

I do hope this child finds a balanced life in the “Enfants d’Asie” centre, and I hope that I have brought him something. In any case, this was one of the encounters that convinced me to join in future docOSTEOcam missions.