Scrooge was better than his word. He did it all, and infinitely more; and to Tiny Tim, who did NOT die, he was a second father. He became as good a friend, as good a master, and as good a man, as the good old city knew, or any other good old city, town, or borough, in the good old world.
If rickets and malnutrition were the only culprits, Scrooge’s intervention might not have been enough.
The fact that tuberculosis (TB) might have been part of Tim’s diagnosis might have proved more problematic for Tim. The scientific community hadn’t really come to terms with TB’s being contagious. The sanatorium movement began in the late 1800s to segregate infected patients out of the main stream, as well as identifying it being a viral infection. The first successful cure was produced in 1906 in France. The current course of treatment requires a long series of strict drug programs which in modern times may take six to twelve months.
Both rickets and TB can be improved and indeed cured through increased exposure to Vitamin D, which can be obtained through exposure to sunlight and a balanced diet.
As the Ghost of Christmas Present showed Ebenezer Scrooge, Tiny Tim’s condition would be fatal without a different course for the boy. According to Dr. Chesney’s research, Scrooge could have ensured several areas were covered to help Tiny Tim simply through his improved generosity to Bob Cratchit and his family.
“How could Scrooge, who upon his transformation embraced being Tiny Tim’s ‘second father,’ have had such an effect as to save Tim? He could have ensured that Tim received a better diet, including fish, dairy products, good quality bread, and more calories. Trips to the countryside would have increased sunshine exposure. Medical specialists could have advised more contemporary and possibly effective orthopedic devices, and, with the curing of rickets, Tim’s limbs may have become straighter,” wrote Dr. Chesney. “We are not told whether he was fully cured, but he definitely survived.”
He had no further intercourse with Spirits, but lived upon the Total Abstinence Principle, ever afterwards; and it was always said of him, that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge. May that be truly said of us, and all of us! And so, as Tiny Tim observed,
God bless Us, Every One!