19-year-old Karim Pina has had his share of struggles over the years. He’s been in and out of the hospital more times than he can count due to suffering from a couple of incredibly rare illnesses. However, he did not let that stop him from connecting with others. Today, he boasts of having over 100,000 followers on Twitter
Karim’s health issues started when he was just 10 years old. Three years later, he was diagnosed with a very rare illness called eosinophilic gastroenteritis. This digestive disease was not the only thing he had to deal with on a daily basis. He also was found to have esophagitis, which is a condition where the esophagus is severely inflamed. Unfortunately, Karim was also diagnosed with another rare disease, this time affecting his mitochondria, which led to him having seizures regularly.
This is a lot for a kid to deal with, and it would definitely prove to be challenging for Karim. However, he is the type of person who does not just accept defeat. He looks to see what he can do to improve his life and circumstances.
When he was 11, Karim decided to leverage the power of the internet to stay connected with others. Since he would live anything but a normal childhood, he wanted to bring a little bit of normalcy into his life through the magic of the internet. That is why he ended up joining Twitter that year, back in 2010.
When Karim first got onto Twitter, he was mainly focused on staying in touch with his friends and having some fun. In those early days, reaching 100,000 was not even a thought in his mind. However, as he saw his follower count grow, he realized that breaking through that 100K barrier was getting closer and closer. Nine years after he started his Twitter account, Karim finally crossed the 100K threshold.
Social media allowed Karim to have a healthy outlet while he battled rare illnesses throughout his teen years. He still wanted to connect with his friends and others. That is what made Twitter perfect for him, since he was able to do both on there. Nine years after being motivated by this desire, he enjoys the rewards of staying active on Twitter with countless people.
Karim wants to let others around his age know that they can still enjoy a good quality of life that includes the things that really matter in life, which are social connections. Humans are social creatures, and staying connected to others is something that has been proven to improve mental health. Sometimes, it can even have a positive effect on physical health.
Given everything that Karim has gone through, he now inspires others around his age to persevere and find an outlet that helps them cope with their illness. He believes that you shouldn’t let what you can’t do stop you from doing what you can do.
You can follow Karim on his Twitter page @voecs.
