Reporting by Faris Al Rifai; Editing by Yusra Ahmed
(Zaman Al Wasl)- Number of people with amputation in Syria reached to 25 thousand since 2011 according to medical statistics. Most amputations resulted from mines, cluster bombs, rockets and mortar shelling.
Most amputees have difficulties in accommodating with their new life and even with prostheses and way of using them. Doctors mentioned that prostheses are extremely expensive, and the Smart ones in particular, as they cost 20-60 thousand for one limb, which is very difficult to afford and hard to find a supportive or charitable agency to cover cost. These difficulties force amputees to go for cheap prostheses without joints; even some of them make their prostheses themselves, like “Mofeed al-Ghbari” from Dara’a who lost his leg by a mine during his work as a volunteer.
Al-Ghbari detailed that he was injured during mending destroyed electricity poles in al-Hrak, when his truck was exploded by a mine and he was severely injured and his leg needed amputation under the knee, another operation needed 20 days later. Al-Ghbari was not able to find a humanitarian agency to support him, therefore, he made prostheses himself from steel and fix it, and then he published his photo with it on facebook. Luckily a day later he was contacted by the “Handicap’s agency” in Amman and offer him a proper prostheses.
Basel Tellawi in Mabk refugee camp in Turkey has prostheses fixed for his two limbs over the knees, they were uncomfortable but he was told that what was available, and smart prostheses are usually fixed for athletes only. However Basel was able to defeat difficulties and now works in a bakery to help his family.
Om Abdul-Aziz Hasoon lost her husband and two sons while running away from death, she’s in Lebanon and has prostheses limbs fixed with the help of ‘Islah and Irshad society’ (En: Guidance and Reform Society) that cooperates with a Qatari charitable agency, but were not comfortable because of their heavy weight and the socks were not guaranteed and expired within a year, their price reach to $.2400, while the cost of better quality could reach to 10 thousand dollars.
Om Hasoon explained that she used to manage to go to the bathroom and the terrace without help when she first had the prostheses fixed, but now she feel numbness and pain and hardly can stand using them.
Nidal al-Akidi, an activist, says that many filed doctors find no option but to amputate injured limbs resulting from mortar shelling or mines, because of severe laceration of bones and soft tissue, which make restructuring the limb difficult, especially with shortage of facilities in field hospitals. Al-Akidi reports that around 20 cases of amputation happened because of mines in “Om Alsharshoh” battle only because of delayed help.
Dr. Mohammed Yaser al-Tabbaa, explains that patients need to wait 3-4 months after amputation to be able to fix the prostheses, that to leave the limb and scar to take its final shape. “Even sometimes there could be a need for another operation to prepare the limb, therefore amputees need to visit orthopaedic specialist before fixing a prostheses”
Dr. Tabbaa advises injured people to have prostheses fixed as soon as possible and not to wait for charity or other humanitarian agencies, because the sooner the prostheses fixed, whatever the kind was, the better, because it could protect muscles from atrophy and weakness.
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