Sunthorn and a touch of Grace

Sunthorn was electrocuted when he was fifteen. He was three storeys high when the metal he was welding hit a powerline. Electricity coursed through him, burning much of his body. He spent eight months in a government hospital recovering. A surgeon trained by Dr Grace Warren recommended he come to the McKean Rehabilitation Centre for surgery and rehabilitation. Sunthorn had twenty different surgical procedures and many months of rehabilitation. Australia’s Dr Grace Warren performed skin grafts and tendon transfers—taking tendons from his legs and using them in his arms so that he could have movement in his hands. The hospital physiotherapist helped him join a trade school where he learned to paint. Sunthorn also completed 10th Grade through a correspondence school at that time.

“I was the first person with general disability [rather than leprosy] to come to McKean. People used to say ‘aren’t you afraid to live there?’ But I have helped to educate other non-leprosy patients and their families that they don’t need to worry about leprosy when they come to have treatment here.”

After that Sunthorn successfully applied for a job at the Craft department at McKean where he has remained for the last twenty-four years. After his first year of working, Sunthorn got married. He met his wife at McKean—the daughter of a leprosy patient at the centre. They have one 19-year-old son who is currently completing his vocational college degree in electronics. With a loan from McKean—now paid back—Sunthorn was able to build his family home next to the McKean compound.

Several years ago Sunthorn decided to start a Disabled Peoples’ Organisation in Chiang Mai. The group is called “Vocational Improvement Group for People with Disabilities”. Sunthorn announces proudly: “We have about 20 members now. I’m the president of the association. All the members contribute savings to the group and we use group funds to help members start small businesses. This has meant people with disability have been able to start successful small businesses and some of our members now own their own homes.”