Florin Crainic

Country: Romania
Age: 19
Profession: Engineering student
Connection with MS: Father has MS

I am currently studying engineering at the University of Timisoara. Like any other student, I enjoy playing football, listening to music and going out with my friends – but unfortunately I can’t always do this. For me, life is not a bowl of cherries, but a bowl of troubles and responsibilities. Life has offered me many opportunities, but it has also tested me in so many ways.

My father, Ioan Crainic, was born in 1954. He worked as a locksmith and baker. I was born in 1990 to my father and his second wife, I am an only child.

In the autumn of 1993, my father was diagnosed with MS, a disease he had never heard of before. He had to give up his job, he was no longer able to live independently and had to rely on other people for the most simple things. In 2004 he was declared disabled and needed a wheelchair; it was a difficult time.

Responsibilities

I grew up helping my mother with housework, shopping and caring for my father as he needs full-time support. Because my mother works to support the family, I have had to take on more responsibilities than most young people.

Sometimes I feel I carry a great burden because I need to fulfil the dreams of two people: mine and my father’s. After he was diagnosed, I became my father’s reason to live. Although he is completely dependent on the help of my mother and myself, he is also a fighter.

To help improve the situation of the people with MS in my country, I have been actively involved the activities of the Hunedoara branch of the MS Society of Romania.

People have told me that I put my heart and soul into what I do and show great sensitivity and professionalism towards the problems that my father faces.

"I want to make my parents proud"

Now I am at university, I feel guilty for leaving my father and mother alone with all the work. I am their only help and reason for happiness, and all I want is to make them proud. I am grateful for their sacrifice, for their support and, more than anything, for letting me leave home to find my own way.

Visit the Romania MS Society website