Rubén, 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, Spain of a strange condition called histiocytosis. This little angel wrote stories and read Plato’s writings to try to forget his illness. In fact, Rubén’s existence was a miracle that was always on the lips of health professionals and volunteers from the Spanish Association Against Cancer , which supports children and their families in the oncology ward for children. His whole life is a testimony that reading is medicine.

Rubén published four books of short stories and one historical novel. These 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 physical defense, he found refuge in books.

Now that Rubén has died, I think that it should not only be other children in the same situation as him who will get to know his fantastic story, but also young people and adults who go through similar experiences. Rubén fought against all adversity, thanks to the books he read, the comfort he received through writing and his enthusiasm for learning.

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

During an interview in 2015 , Rubén talked about how reading had saved him. In that interview, he explained how reading and writing served as a refuge for him so that he could cope with the disease. Because the disease was discovered so late, the disease became chronic, and he had to go on chemotherapy for the rest of his life.

Rubén believed that reading worked like medicine. The books he loved the most were “One Hundred Years of Solitude”, “Platero and I”, “The Family of Pascual Duarte”, “The President”, “The Transformation”, “Treasure Island”, “Son of Man”, “Fictions”, ” Around the World in 80 Days  ”  and  “ The Battle of the Globes ” . Due to such variation in what he read, his own novels and stories have no special style. Every story he came up with is very special.

He enjoyed reading so much because he was able to immerse himself in other worlds. In these worlds he would be able to travel to other places and eras, get to know other people and make new friends. This precious 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 big. His legacy of words and strength will remain in his books.

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 simply 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 characteristics and their shortcomings. He showed how these flaws, if we work with them, can also become part of our box of characteristics. He fed the confidence of brave people and gave them the determination to live this way.

The historical novel he wrote was about animal cruelty and bullying. His favorite work is “The Best Medicine of All”. He believed that reading worked as a medicine for the soul, hence the name of the book. The stories in this book were written throughout his upbringing (2, 4, 6, 8, 10 years and up), so each idea arose in different ways.

He used the publication of these short stories to pay for part of his stay in Seville, where he received treatment. His life philosophy was that we should always look at 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 that reading is medicine.