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| November 24, 2005 | Thursday | Shawwal 21, 1426 |
Quake survivor to walk with artificial leg
LAHORE, Nov 23: The first of the earthquake victims, who lost their limbs, will be able to walk with the help of an artificial leg at the physical medicine and rehabilitation department of the Mayo Hospital on Friday (tomorrow). Riffat Bibi, 17, who lost her right leg below knee in Muzaffarabad during the devastating earthquake on Oct 8, was brought to the Mayo Hospital. It is learnt that owing to a severe injury, she had got her right leg below knee amputated at a field hospital in Muzaffarabad.
Riffat, who has got her artificial leg and is practising to walk, is very happy and considering that her new life is beginning. Her relatives are equally jubilant to see the victim walking again independently.
It may be mentioned here that over a dozen patients having the amputated limbs, including Riffat Bibi, are being treated at the quake ward in the Mayo Hospital’s emergency department. All these patients have been referred to the PMRD for preparation of artificial limbs.
When contacted, PMRD head Dr Khalid Jamil Akhtar said the department had prepared the artificial limb with indigenous material and fitted to the amputated leg of Riffat. “The process of preparing and fitting the artificial limb to Riffat Bibi is complete and she will walk independently again on Friday (tomorrow),” he said.
Dr Akhtar said the PMRD had over a dozen such patients on its list of fixing artificial limbs. As soon as Riffat Bibi will start using her artificial leg independently, the PMRD will start fixing artificial limbs to a couple of patients on a daily basis.
He said the PMRD was working to manufacture some 1,000 artificial limbs for the quake victims, who got their limbs amputated during medical treatment in field hospitals. He said the PMRD was also collaborating with the Limbless Association, UK; and Luton Beds, UK; for making artificial limbs available to the victims.
Answering a question, Dr Akhtar said a majority of the quake victims required legs. Giving a reason, he said a majority of the people who were hit by solid debris on the upper part of their bodies died. “This is the reason that the number of quake victims requiring arms is quite less,” he said.
Still, he said, the department was also manufacturing arms and functional hands to serve patients who might be requiring these limbs. He said the department’s workshop, being manned by 50 qualified technicians, was preparing quality limbs while using indigenous laminated material instead of old practice of wooden limbs. “The weight of a complete leg along with a foot prepared by laminated material is around one and-a-half kilogram while that of wooden leg between five and 10 kilograms,” he said.
Similarly, he said, the department was also preparing steel braces to facilitate patients having spinal cord injuries. It had already fitted braces to over a dozen such patients, he added.
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