October 10, 2006	Tuesday	Ramazan 16, 1427

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ISLAMABAD, Oct 9: Hope is the only source of survival for bedridden Shaheen, 26, who is fighting hard for the last one year at a rehabilitation centre in the capital to fade away the physical and psychological scars left on her by the October 8 earthquake.

Belonging to Bagh, Azad Kashmir and married with two children, Shaheen is one among the hundreds of paraplegic patients - those with paralysed lower half - who suffered severe spinal cord injuries and nerve lesions following the earthquake.

With a limited ability to move now, Shaheen was as much normal and active as she was moments before being buried under the debris of her house when the earthquake struck her mountain town.

After her initial treatment at a makeshift hospital, she was transferred to a hospital in the capital in a helicopter for further treatment but doctors could not help more than curing her other wounds.

Because of her inability to move, she was moved to the Spinal Cord Injury Unit of the National Institute for Handicapped for minimising her dependency on others by adapting specially devised therapeutic codes for the rehabilitation of such patients.

The centre with 100-bed facility was set up in March this year when a rush of spine-injured patients was witnessed as the most common disability following the earthquake.

Among the 150,000 injured that were treated in various public health facilities, more than 713 amputations and 730 spinal cord injuries were registered.

“When I became paralysed, I thought it was the end of my life especially in a society where disability is not easily taken,” Shaheen said while struggling to rise in her bed by putting stress on her elbows instead of lifeless hands.

“But with continuous physiotherapy and learning the basic knowledge on how to deal with my disability, I have started making improvements.”

Among the 67 other female paralysed patients at the centre, Shaheen is undergoing treatment by physiotherapists, occupational therapists and psychologists, working in addition to doctors, for her care and rehabilitation.

“I am trying to put the pieces of my new and much more complicated life back together,” she said. “The process is slow.”

Shaheen is well aware that life cannot be the same for her, yet she is determined to start day-to-day activities again.

Next to her is Ms Ansar, 24, from Muzaffarabad, on a wheelchair who was trapped in rubble for hours after her house collapsed. When she regained consciousness, her world had changed because of her spinal injury as she could no longer walk. For the weakened grasp of her hands, she has been provided specially designed utensils and a helper fixes a spoon in a leather band tied to her wrist.

This ‘tripod grasp’, meant to enhance the grasp of Ansar’s limbs, has been specifically prepared at the Orthotic Workshop located in the premises of the Spinal Cord Injury Unit. The workshop was donated by the Ireland government for the rehabilitation of earthquake-hit patients with spinal injuries.

“These devices are tailor-made to meet the individual needs of patients ranging from abduction braces, hand and foot splints and corsets for spinal deviations,” said Dr Maria Khalid, in charge of the unit.

Dr Jehanzeb Khan Aurakzai, Director of National Institute for Handicapped says people with paraplegia are one of the most vulnerable groups by the secondary effects of the earthquake who require extensive long-term rehabilitation.

“Besides medical treatment, we have also chalked out a comprehensive three to five year programme of community-based rehabilitation for the Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority (Erra),” Dr Aurakzai said.—APP