Tiny Tim is one of the Charles Dickens’ classic – A Christmas Carol’s character. Tim dies in one chapter, but Ebenezer Scrooge’s charity saved him in another episode. According to a recent study, he was suffering from both tuberculosis and rickets. If you want to learn more about the story of Mr. Tim, then get straight into this article.
The story
A Christmas Carol is a well-loved tale with a protagonist Ebenezer Scrooge and Bob Cratchit, the boss of misery. Both lived different lives – Bob lived a life in poverty; on the other hand, Scrooge a comfortable life. Tim belonged to the family of the Cratchits; he has iron bars on his legs and always struggled with the crutch. However, it is not mentioned what illness he had.
As the story progresses, Scrooge got a surprise visit of four ghosts who showed him that there are errors in his misery. Also, during their last visit, the Ghost of Christmas showed Scrooge that Tiny Tim died of his ailments. Later, Scrooge repents and becomes more generous with the Cratchit family.
In the next chapter, Scrooge’s kindness is altered and transfers him into a “second father” to Tiny Tim, who survived.
The culprit of Tim’s death
Most of the scholars have suggested several ailments like TB, cerebral palsy, spine injury, nutritional deficiency, renal tubular acidosis, rickets, and polio, with which Tim might be affected. All these diseases have destructive effects on the skeleton, but it can be reversed with simple alkaline salts treatment.
Each of the disorders mentioned above is the result of poor nutrition and hygiene that might have led to the death of tiny Tim. Have a look at the other factors responsible for Tim’s death.
The living conditions of Tim
Tim lived in the worst parts of London. He lived with his low-income family in the filthy, shady, and crowded place with a soot-filled sky. Because of the burning of the coal, the atmosphere gets layered with sulfur and other harmful particles. Soot-filled sky made it difficult for London’s inhabitants to have enough Vitamin D. Thus, the people were most likely to get affected by the diseases. Having proper diet became the only reasonable way for the people to get appropriate Vitamin D.
The diet is another reason
The poor were not able to get hold of food, which is rich in Vitamin D like the fish, milk or eggs, liver, and healthy fats. Thus, the sparse population of London became susceptible to diseases like rickets. Tim belonged to the inferior parts of London; therefore, he couldn’t afford to buy Vitamin D rich food. And he became vulnerable to various diseases that took away his life.
He faced problems with Co-occurring diseases
The children with rickets were quite prone to get respiratory ailments like TB and pneumonia. And according to some studies, it was concluded that Tim was going through both of the conditions.
How money helped the poor kids?
With the simple addition of dairy products and fish in Tim’s diet, Scrooge worked on his newfound generosity. He provided him with sufficient Vitamin D so that Tim’s immune system improves, and he gets treated from his rickets problem.
