When he was born, his parents couldn’t experience the joy of cuddling their newborn. Aptly named, Sparsh—meaning gentle touch, the newborn suffered from a rare disorder—osteogenesis imperfect—also known as brittle bone disease. He had nearly 35 fractures at the time of birth and spent six months in the hospital right after he was born. Doctors were not hopeful of his survival. Now 19, Sparsh Shah, has suffered around 140 fractures and eight major surgeries to date.
You might think his condition would dampen his spirit. But that is far from the case. Eight titanium-iron roads and 22 screws fitted in this body have not been a deterrent. Today, this boy, who traces his roots to Surat, is all set to touch people’s hearts with music. He has secured admission to the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston, US, which boasts alumni that include 310 Grammy award winners. Sparsh scored 1,580 marks out of the total 1,600 in the online exam for Baccalaureate in Interdisciplinary Music of the institute.
“Music has been my passion since childhood and I am happy that people like my singing performances. I am fortunate to have collected USD 2 million donations for various welfare organisations through my talent,” says the teen, who will earn his education fee of $15,000 per year through his music and motivational speech events.
Sparsh, who boasts millions of followers on social media, started learning Indian classical music from the age of six and has been learning western music for the last nine years. His parents—Hiren and Jigisha—work with multinational companies in the US and the family lives in Iselin, New Jersey. The couple migrated around 20 years ago to the US.Recently, Sparsh registered his name in the Guinness Book of World Records for longest raised leg hold which he did for two hours.
