The Boy Who Showed Us That Reading Is Medicine

This article aims to be a small tribute to Rubén Darío Ávalos, a Paraguayan boy who died at the age of 12 in Seville, of a strange condition called histiocytosis . This little angel wrote stories and read Plato’s writings, to try to forget his illness. In fact, Ruben’s existence was a miracle that was always on the minds of health professionals and volunteers from the Spanish Association Against Cancer , which supports children and their families in oncology pediatric wards. His whole life is a testimony that reading is medicine.

Rubén published four books of stories and a historical novel. They were Encounters with Rubén  (2015),  Sensation of Purity  (2015),  The letters and other unpredictable stories  (2016),  The master medicine  (2016) and  The Tiara  (2017) . When Rubén Darío Ávalos lacked bodily defenses, he found refuge in books.

Now that Rubén is dead, I believe that those who need to get to know his amazing story should not only be other children like him, but also young people and adults who are going through a similar experience . Rubén fought all adversity, thanks to his reading of books, the comfort of writing, and his enthusiasm for learning.

“The goal of what we are is what we do with what we have.”
-Vince Lombardi-

The child who did not have to grow up to grow up

During an interview in 2015 , Rubén talked about how reading had saved him. In that interview, he explained how writing and reading are medicine and was a refuge for him in the fight against his illness. Due to the late discovery of his disease, it became chronic and he needed chemotherapy for the rest of his life.

Rubén believed that reading is medicine. The books he loved most were ” One Hundred Years of Solitude “, ” Platero and I “, ” The Family of Pascual Duarte “, ” The President “, ” The Metamorphosis “, ” Treasure Island “, ” Son of Man ” , ” Fictions “, ”  Around the world in 80 days ” and ” The war of the worlds “.  Because of this diversity in his reading, his own novels and stories have no particular style. Every story he invented is completely different.

He loved to read so much because he was able to immerse himself in other worlds. In these worlds he would travel to other places and times, get to know other people and make new friends. This transient author composed stories that he had written at different ages, from 2 years to 12 years. He did not have to grow up to be great . His legacy of words and strength will remain in his books.

“Your current relationships do not determine where you can go; they just decide where to start. ”
-Nido Qubien-

Reading is medicine

To create his characters, Rubén found inspiration in the people he met. He met them in his dreams, in books he had read, or just in his imagination. He always tried to give them a very well-defined personality and to make their life a message. In general, he presented both their virtues and their shortcomings. He showed how these flaws, if we work on them, can also become part of our box of virtues. He nurtured the self-esteem of brave people and gave them the determination to live this way.

The historical novel he wrote was about animal abuse and bullying. His favorite work is ” The Best Medicine of All” . He believed that reading is a medicine for the soul, hence the name of the book. The stories in this book were written at different times (2, 4, 6, 8, 10 years and over), so each idea came up in a different way.

He used the publication of these short stories to pay for part of his stay in Seville, where he received treatment. His philosophy of life was that we should always see the positive side of things. No matter how bad the situation is, our mission is to find the positive side and be grateful for it. Remember, reading is medicine.

“We enjoy news about our heroes, but forget that we are extraordinary to anyone”

–Helen Hayes–