Heba learns to walk with a prosthesis

Heba is a 13-year-old girl. Her home in Sa'dah, Yemen, was struck by an airstrike last year. She suffered a serious leg wound and her leg had to be amputated.

Heba with HI physiotherapist Fadia | © HI

After being injured in an airstrike, Heba was urgently carried to the Al-Thawra hospital in Sa'dah. The wound on her left leg was so serious that she had to be amputated right away.

In Yémen, Heba does balance exercises with her HI physio.

"When I woke up from coma two days later, I saw myself without my leg, I felt so miserable."

At the hospital, the Humanity & Inclusion team explained to her the possibility to get a prosthesis and to walk again. Three weeks later, the team took the measurements to produce the prosthesis. She has since made her first test with it.

Heba benefits from a rehabilitation programme including balance exercises, gait training and strengthening exercises to allow her to walk with her artificial leg.

Self-esteem

Heba is now able to go up and down the stairs. "Before, I was in bed and I couldn't stand up, walk or balance," she says. "I feel so happy to get my prosthesis! I want to go back to school. I hope that I can become a pharmacist," she explains.

In the future, she would like to buy a large piece of land to build a pharmacy and distribute free medicines to poor people.

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Date published: 23/03/20

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