Unbelievable; that’s one way to describe it but the story of young and brilliant app developer; Desmond Yorm Emilson, will definitely stir up emotions and inspiration in anyone who reads about it.
He is the youngest of twin brothers; the older being Derrick Yorm Emilson. He hails from the Oti Region but now lives at Dome in Accra.
At age 5, he was rendered disabled after a strange incident where he fell to the ground one morning, while preparing for school and convulsed.
He was rushed to the hospital by his parents but that was the beginning of his health woes. Sharing his story with Kofi TV, his mother, Vivian Abena Dansoaa said that they travelled all over with young Desmond from hospitals to prayer camps, looking for some solution.
They would only later discover through diagnosis, that Desmond in Kindergarten, developed a health condition known as Cerebral Palsy - a group of disorders that affect a person's ability to move and maintain balance and posture, making them weak and unable to move their muscles.
“At age 5, he was going to school and said he was hungry, I went into the room and in just a few seconds I heard screams ‘Atta Maame, your son has fallen’, when I came out, it was a convulsion, he was foaming at the mouth.
“I took him to Achimota Hospital, after 3 days, they said they were on strike so I brought him home. After some 2 days, it came back and we took him back to the hospital and it was okay after some time. But after some 6, 7 months, he had stiffened up so much, one could not carry him, you could only place him in your palms.
“Then we started roaming looking for solutions, from herbalists and prayer camps,” his mother said.
After this incident, Desmond had to grow up, learning to use his feet for virtually everything – eating, drinking, writing, etc.
After some time, his mother explained that he started requesting for a book and pen to scribble somethings with aid from his father Bright Oyetey.
She later found out these were ideas for developing some application software. He asked for a phone after some time and began exploring things for himself.
Soon enough, he said he was ready to launch an application software and he needed assistance and exposure.
“He doesn’t go anywhere. He uses his leg for virtually everything. Eating, drinking, etc.
“After 7 years, he would call me once in a while and ask for a book and pen. But how he held the pen and book was different so one day I decided to observe one day and I realized he used his toes to pick up the pen and wrote.
“It was like that and then he asked for a phone after some time. I didn’t have money but I got some money from a friend – GH500 and I bought a phone with it at the time.
“He would use it to chat, and the English he wrote surprised me, although his last education level was Kindergarten. People will ask me how that was possible and I would attribute it to God. He started developing the app and he would ask his father to write the ideas down when he couldn’t write and after some time, we printed all the ideas. One time, he said he wanted to sell one of his ideas, get money, set up an office and expand his company.
“Two weeks ago, he said he wanted to launch the app and I told him I didn’t have any money. He was sure help will come,” his mother Vivian narrated.
Managing to communicate in a language only relatable to his mother, Desmond told Kofi TV what his motivation was.
According to him, his dream has been to meet or work with Mark Zuckerberg, the owner of Facebook someday and although that dream seems a bit far off currently, he believes it will one day be realized.
“In 2019, I saw the owner of Facebook on the internet and I chatted with him and he said he will help me. I didn’t hear from him again. In 2020, I decided to start myself so I got serious in 2021,” Desmond said.
