A car accident forever changed the life of Sami, 60. His leg was injured and, eventually, doctors made the difficult decision to amputate it. Humanity & Inclusion specialists in Syria are helping Sami recover.

After Sami’s home was bombed in 2012, he rushed to check on his family. But on the way, he had a car accident and severely injured his right leg.

He underwent internal fixator surgery, but suffered from complications because of a viral infection, pseudomonas aeruginosa, picked up in the operating room.

The infection didn’t respond to treatment and caused bone necrosis. Sami had several bone transplants with external fixators, but after 10 years spent in and out of the hospital, the physician decided it was time to amputate his leg.

In April 2022, Sami had a below-the-knee amputation. Humanity & Inclusion and its partners’ physical rehabilitation teams prepared him for an artificial limb.

Path to rehabilitation

Although the operation went well, Sami experienced psychological distress. He began binge eating and smoking heavily, which affected his general health, causing breathing difficulties and decreasing his physical endurance. This in turn affected his rehabilitation sessions and learning to walk with his new leg.

Thanks to the joint efforts of HI’s physical therapist, prosthetics technician, and psychosocial support worker, Sami was finally persuaded to leave his house using his 10-year-old crutches. He started losing weight, cutting cigarettes and adopting a healthier lifestyle. This was a great help in regaining his independence.

Last August, measurements were taken for Sami’s first artificial limb. After exercises to strengthen his muscles, increase his range of motion and improve his balance, he was ready to be fitted with his artificial leg.

Through gait training and rehabilitation sessions, Sami became more comfortable with his new leg. He gradually set aside his old crutches and began walking without any support. Now, he walks with confidence.

Sami has returned to work at the taxi company where he was once a driver. Today, he manages the calls and coordinates the drivers.

Emilie Pin Vath was 6 when she lost her foot in a landmine explosion in Cambodia. She was one of the very first people to be fitted with an artificial limb by HI after its founding in 1982.

Emilie was born in Battambang, Cambodia. She fell on a landmine in 1982 when she and her family were fleeing the Khmer Rouge. After arriving at Khao I Dang camp at the Cambodia-Thailand border, Emilie crossed paths with HI’s team and was fitted with an artificial limb made of bamboo. Today, Emilie is 48 and living in France. She tells her story:

At the time, there was a war in Cambodia. Because of the Khmer Rouge's hold on the country, my family had to flee their village, which is why I found myself on the road between Thailand and Cambodia.

One day as we were traveling, we stopped at a refugee camp near a pond. We had come a long way and, like the other children, I was eager to make the most of the cool water. I waited until my parents fell asleep and snuck out to go for a swim.

On the way to the pond, we passed some men running in the opposite direction. As they went by, one of them pushed me and I fell onto a landmine. There was a deafening bang. After that, all I remember is a black veil descending. Everything went dark. When I woke up, I saw that my left foot was gone. It had been torn off in the mine explosion.

Arriving at the refugee camp

I received emergency first aid, but for proper treatment, I had to go to another refugee camp in Thailand. It was a long way away and my family carried me through the forest on a stretcher for 15 days. I had no medicine, no painkillers—nothing. When we arrived at Khao I Dang camp, I saw many people with missing arms or legs, most of them children.

I was taken to the clinic, where they took off my bandages. It took at least five minutes and I remember very well how the white cloth suddenly turned red. Once the bandages were removed, the doctors could see that gangrene had started to spread up my leg. They decided to amputate.

A month later, I came out of a medically-induced coma. Before the operation, I thought they would amputate below the knee, which would have made it easier to walk again. But when I lifted the sheet, I realized that the amputation was in fact higher up, mid-femur.

HI’s first bamboo limbs

There was a workshop making a lot of noise in the camp, and as soon as I could get around on my crutches, I went to see what was going on. In the workshop, there were hammers, pieces of bamboo and iron rods. One of the workers saw me and explained: "We are making bamboo prostheses for children like you. They will be used for people who have been amputated because of landmines.” I ran back to my parents, shouting: “Mummy, there’s a workshop where they are making legs! For children like me!” 

That’s when I met the founders of HI. They came to support us and, despite the language barrier, they were training refugees to make artificial limbs from bamboo.

I had to wait for my leg to heal before I could try my first artificial leg. It hurt a lot at first. You have to remember at the time, there was nothing to reduce the pain. But as soon as I put my prosthetic foot on the floor, I said to myself, "At last I can walk like everyone else!” Six months after my amputation, I was standing on two feet again. Despite the pain, I wore my artificial limb every day. I played soccer in flip-flops, played with marbles and bungee cords, danced in the rain... and, like children everywhere, I got up to all kinds of mischief!

Living without limits

Thanks to the Red Cross, my family was able to move to France in September 1982. The early days were very hard. We came from a country with a totally different culture and, at only 6 years old, I had witnessed the indescribable horrors of war. Those memories have stayed with me ever since.

Growing up, I saw my artificial limb differently. I would meet children who had never seen an amputee before and they fixated on it. They always saw me as the girl with the prosthesis and that really affected me.

Fortunately, my parents always encouraged me not to worry about what other people said and to live my life as I wanted. So I never limited myself. For example, I played a lot of sports: eight years of badminton, table tennis, tennis, soccer and diving.

Now I live and work here, and I have even become a French citizen. But, the more time goes by, the more I miss my other country. Today, my dream is to go back to Cambodia and settle there.

Since February 2022 in Ukraine, there have been more than 17,000 civilian casualties, including over 10,000 people injured. Humanity & Inclusion’s experts are working to strengthen prosthetic and orthotic services across the country.

With war ongoing in Ukraine, people are at risk of conflict-related injuries from explosive weapons during an armed attack, collapsing buildings, or accidental contact with a landmine or explosive ordnance that may be left over from combat or set as a booby trap.

Prabin, 6, was born without the lower part of his right leg. Humanity & Inclusion’s team first met him five years ago when his family was referred to a rehabilitation center in Biratnagar, Nepal. Since then, he’s advanced by leaps and bounds.

It wasn’t until Prabin’s mother, Sunita, was well enough to return home from the hospital that she realized something was wrong. Her baby boy had been born missing the lower part of his right leg.

“I felt very disappointed and asked my husband why he didn’t tell me before,” Sunita explains. “He said that the doctor told him not to discuss this condition with me because I was so unwell that it could make me more nervous and that would be dangerous.”

The first years of Prabin’s life were difficult for Sunita and the family. They loved their little boy but the community wasn’t very accepting of children with disabilities.

“Because of his disability, I couldn’t stop worrying about his future,” Sunita adds. “It seemed like nobody could help us. But then a social worker told us about the rehabilitation service at Biratnagar supported by HI, and then everything changed.”

Small patient, big challenges

The family first visited HI’s local partner, Community Based Rehabilitation Center, in Biratnagar when Prabin was just 18 months old. At first, Sunita and her husband had their doubts. Ambika Sharma, an expert in artificial limbs and braces for HI’s partner organization, guided them through the process.

“I had no idea that these types of services existed,” Sunita says. “My husband and I really doubted that my son would be able to walk, but Ambika explained how the device would work and how it could help him. We were convinced.”

Ambika recalls meeting the family for the first time.

“He was the youngest child we ever supported at the center,” she explains. “It was my first time making a leg for a 1-year-old child and our first attempt was not successful at all. The measurement was slightly inaccurate and we could not attach it to his leg. But we persevered and on the second attempt it was perfect.”

After that, it wasn’t long before Prabin was up and about on his new leg. When Sunita brought Prabin back to the center, he had already made amazing progress.

“It was a wonderful change in our little boy,” Sunita says. “He accepted his leg right away and just began playing, running, and even jumping like any other child of his age.”

He loves to play

To Sunita’s delight, after he was fitted with his artificial limb, Prabin was accepted into their local school.

His parents had to leave very early each morning for work, so the young boy learned to get himself ready, lock up the house, and walk to the bus stop all by himself. On top of that, he also had daily exercises to do and he had to clean and take care of his prosthesis.

The first few months weren’t easy and he was really shy around other children and his teacher. But it wasn’t long before his personality started to shine through.

You wouldn’t believe Prabin was ever shy when you see him today – he is full of energy and the life and soul of the classroom.

He’s also the fastest runner and the highest jumper at playtime. Most of all, though, he loves to play soccer.

“When he sees a soccer ball, he can't keep calm,” says Benita, his teacher.

But school isn’t just fun and games for Prabin.

“He’s an intelligent and obedient student,” Binita adds.

‘They will outgrow their prosthesis’

Recently Prabin returned to the center to see Ambika and receive a brand new artificial limb, his fourth device over the last five years. His old one was adjusted several times but is now too small.

“Growth is an important aspect when working with children,” Ambika explains. “As their bodies change, their prosthesis has to be adapted or changed to accommodate them. Just as they outgrow shirts, pants, and shoes, they will outgrow their prosthesis.”

Prabin can’t wait to try out his new leg, but it’s slightly too big when Ambika first puts it on. She adjusts it until it’s perfect.

Following a fire when he was little, Dieudonné's leg was amputated. After receiving a new artificial limb from Humanity & Inclusion, he is learning to walk again and is even starting to play soccer.

Dieudonné is 12 years old and lives with his grandmother, aunt and cousin in a small community in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Following a fire when he was only three months old, he had to have his right leg amputated. In 2022, Dieudonné was given an artificial limb by HI and is currently participating in physical therapy sessions at the University Clinics of Kinshasa. He can now stand without difficulty and is learning to walk without using his crutches.

Dieudonné is cared for by his grandmother, Rose, who sees him as her own son.

One day, when he was still a baby, oil spilled on the ground and the house caught fire. Dieudonné’s leg was caught in the flames, but Rose just managed to save him and took him straight to the hospital. The doctors had to make a quick decision to amputate, as the fire had already damaged a large part of his right leg, almost to the knee. During his stay in the hospital, the doctors treated the wound until it healed.

When one of HI’s mobile clinics came in contact with Dieudonné in 2020, the team found that he required surgery before he could be given the appropriate fittings. The HI team advised Rose to seek the support of a local elected official, known for their generosity and awareness of people with disabilities, to raise the funds needed for the operation.

In 2021, after having his operation and being hospitalized for more than a month, Dieudonné was able to return home and go back to school. He then had to wait for the wound to heal completely before he could receive his artificial leg. Delivery of the prosthesis was delayed by a major strike in the medical sector, but in 2022 HI was able to provide him with an artificial limb that allowed him to walk using both legs.

With great emotion in her voice, Rose explains how happy she is to see her grandson walk as he did before.

“I was very annoyed, because all these years whenever I bought a pair of shoes, I could only give him one and had to throw the other one away,” Rose explains. “It was like throwing money down the drain! Now it’s over, he can finally put both shoes on.

“And if HI hadn’t intervened, we wouldn’t have had this prosthesis because they're very expensive and I don’t have the money to buy one.”

Before receiving his artificial limb, Dieudonné walked with a crutch which required a lot of effort. Thanks to his rehabilitation exercises with Euphrasie, his physical therapist, he is learning to walk and everything now seems easier.

Euphrasie works at the University Clinics in Kinshasa. Several years ago, the rehabilitation center there was supported by HI. She has been working there with Dieudonné for over four weeks and explains with a smile how well he is doing. She can feel the full force of the young boy’s desire to get up, move around and walk.

“Dieudonné is really making a tremendous effort to get better and it’s great to have the rehabilitation sessions with him,” Euphrasie says.” I also work with adults, and it’s complicated at times with some of them who don’t necessarily have the same motivation.”

Euphrasie does several exercises with Dieudonné: going up and down stairs, catching and throwing a ball, walking, and more so he will feel increasingly comfortable with his artificial leg. During these exercises, Euphrasie says to him, in a kind and knowing voice: “Don’t be scared to put all your weight on your prosthesis, Dieudonné, it’s quite solid. Have faith in it!”

When Abdel was 16 years old, he lost his leg in a landmine explosion. Humanity & Inclusion has helped him rebuild his life through rehabilitation care and a new artificial limb.

Abdel and his friend were working on a farm when his friend stepped on a landmine. Unaware of the risks posed by mines—including that they are often laid in groups—Abdel ran to his friend's aid. He stepped on another mine and severely injured his leg in the explosion.

Abdel was taken to the hospital in Sana’a, where his right leg was amputated.

Humanity & Inclusion’s rehabilitation team in Yemen initially provided Abdel with a pair of crutches to help him get around. He then had sessions to prepare him for an artificial limb. Once it had been fitted, he participated in rehabilitation sessions to learn to walk with his new leg.

Abdel does not live near the rehabilitation center, so Humanity & Inclusion provided transport and accommodation to facilitate his treatment and recovery. Abdel has also received financial assistance to help him meet his needs.

With Humanity & Inclusion's support, Abdel is back on his feet again. He has regained his independence and self-confidence.

“My prosthesis has changed my life,” Abdel says. “I can walk and tend to my land and my crops. People who don't know I had an accident don't even notice that I am wearing a prosthesis.”

After outgrowing her first artificial limb provided by Humanity & Inclusion's team, Sreyka was recently fitted for a new one.

Sreyka was walking home from school in May 2019 when she was hit by a speeding driver. Seriously injured, she was rushed to a nearby health center and then to the nearest hospital, which lacked the equipment needed to treat her. Sreyka was taken to a pediatric hospital in Cambodia's capital city, where doctors saved her life by amputating her left leg.

Seven months after the accident, Sreyka visited Humanity & Inclusion’s rehabilitation center in Kampong Cham, an hour from her village. Our team of experts immediately took good care of her, providing her with a custom-fit artificial leg and teaching her how to walk with it. She also participated in physical therapy and mental health counseling sessions, boosting her confidence for her return to school.

Having outgrown her first artificial leg, Sreyka recently returned to the center to be measured and fitted for a new one. With donor support, Humanity & Inclusion's prosthetic technicians repair and replace artificial limbs when users need them.

Abdulaleem survived a mine accident in Yemen. Fitted with an artificial limb by Humanity & Inclusion’s team, he is looking forward to the future.

Abdulaleem Abd Allah Abo Suraima, 17, lives in southern Yemen with his four brothers and nine sisters. When he was 16, Abdulaleem survived a landmine explosion, but lost his leg. Humanity & Inclusion's rehabilitation services have fitted him with an artificial limb.

Abdulaleem was working on the farm when he heard an explosion in the mountains. He knew that one of his friends was up there with his herd.

"I heard him scream,” recalls Abdulaleem. I ran to his aid and that's when another mine exploded beneath me. I lost consciousness."

Abdulaleem’s brothers and some villagers rushed to help him. They took him to Rada'a hospital, where the doctors managed to stop the bleeding. He was then transferred to a hospital in Sana'a, the country's capital.

"When we arrived, the doctors said they would have to amputate my leg above the knee,” he explains. “My brother refused–he insisted that they amputate below the knee.”

The difficult return home

Abdulaleem spent almost two months in the hospital after his operation. When he was finally able return home, he was faced with a number of new challenges. He had to use crutches to get around and all his routine activities were now more difficult.

"I couldn't go to the farm, to the mosque, anywhere,” he says. “Even drinking water was difficult.”

Losing his leg took its toll on his morale. He lost all motivation and ambition.

"For me, life had lost its meaning,” he continues. “I only wanted one thing–to get a prosthesis so I could walk again!”

A new leg for a new life

After Humanity & Inclusion’s teams met Abdulaleem, they measured his leg to make an artificial limb. A week later, he was fitted for the prosthetic. He then received rehabilitation treatment to learn to walk with his new leg.

"After a lot of sessions, I could get around with my prosthesis,” he explains with a smile on his face. “I went home and could walk like before! I got my motivation and ambition back.”

Thanks to his new artificial leg, Abdulaleem is looking forward to the future again. He has big plans: he wants to build his own house, to get married and to buy a farm to raise sheep.

"In my village there are many other people with mine injuries,” he adds. “They too are waiting for help. Thank you very much, HI!"

In 1982, two doctors working in refugee camps in Thailand started helping survivors of landmine explosions who had been injured fleeing across the heavily mined border. There they met Gniep, a young girl who had lost her leg after stepping on a landmine. Gniep was one of the first children ever supported by Humanity & Inclusion. This is her story.

I was 5 years old, living under the Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia, four long years in absolute darkness of uncertainty, anguish and fear. In 1979, fleeing misery and hunger, I left my village with my aunt, leaving everything behind, believing that it was temporary.

Antipersonnel landmines were all over Cambodia. To this day they still kill and mutilate an alarmingly high number of people. At the time, we were not informed about the risk they posed. While in the camp, I went to fetch water and that’s when it happened: I stepped on a mine.

I remember it as if it were yesterday; the violence was such that I was thrown in the air. Stunned and dizzy by the shock of the explosion, I did not know that I had just stepped on a mine. I tried to get up and walk three times before understanding that my right leg was torn off at the calf, and that the left one was badly affected, too.

By instinct of survival, probably, I moved myself to a path, where two soldiers passing by found me and brought me on their motorcycle to a makeshift dispensary. There, the analgesic I was given was a stick that I had to bite on when the pain became too much.

Then, I was transferred to a refugee camp in Thailand commonly known as Khao I Dang. I had to undergo 17 operations because the surgeon wanted to preserve the joint, but my leg was gangrenous and I fell into a coma for a month.

Not long afterward, I met the founding members of HI. They were a small group of young people, who were friends, husbands and wives, full of enthusiasm, their heads full of dreams and ideals, animated by a crazy desire to help people like me who had been stripped of everything. With great humanity and respect, they put me back on my feet again.

My first prosthesis was very simple, made of recycled materials like wood, car tires, and resin. I admit that I had a hard time accepting it because it was heavy and hard to put on.

It's hard to believe that was 40 years ago. Today, despite my disability, I lead my life like everyone else. I am a night nurse, working for young people with multiple disabilities. And I am a mother of a young and beautiful girl. I am so very grateful to those women and men who helped me all those years ago. They gave me back my smile and dignity, which everyone should have!

Thwol, 60, had her leg amputated several years ago following complications from diabetes. At the Kalobeyei settlement in Kenya, Humanity & Inclusion offers her rehabilitation, an artificial limb and psychosocial support.

Thwol sits on a quilt, shaded by a tarp at the back of her home made of natural materials at Kalobeyei settlement in Kenya. A large piece of fabric is draped over her lap, with colorful and intricate patterns of beads that she’s added one by one. She counts each line, picking up the correct bead from the small tin beside her, threading it with a needle and placing it meticulously. Chickens, provided to her family by the World Food Program, peck the ground around her.

The beading is something she brought with her from Ethiopia, her home country that she left more than 10 years ago. Beading is “my culture,” she explains, simply.

Beading keeps Thwol busy. The repetition and creativity are therapeutic. The craft has given her a way to connect with her neighbors and generate income. Beading, along with rehabilitation and psychosocial support from Humanity & Inclusion, helped bring Thwol out of a dark place where she found herself after complications from diabetes required doctors to amputate her leg.

Providing artificial limbs 

Thwol was living in Dadaab refugee camp in the eastern part of Kenya, when she began to notice peeling and swelling of her right foot. Humanity & Inclusion’s specialists referred her to a hospital, where her leg was amputated below the knee. She was fitted with crutches and an artificial limb.

When Thwol was moved from Dadaab to Kakuma, another refugee camp in northwestern Kenya, Humanity & Inclusion’s specialists working at both camps communicated to ensure she received follow-up care. By the time Thwol arrived at Kakuma, her crutches were in need of repair and she needed a new artificial limb. Humanity & Inclusion’s team equipped her with new crutches right away, and she was added to the list of people awaiting prosthetics-fitting.

“Humanity & Inclusion is the only organization providing prostheses at the camp,” says Andrew Mwangi, Humanity & Inclusion’s prosthetics and orthotics officer. “The funding is never enough for the need."

Humanity & Inclusion can guarantee new artificial limbs for about 25 people living in Kakuma every year. The process from the time a need is identified to when a person begins walking with their new leg can be long.

"We give people crutches first for walking as we strengthen their muscles of the affected limb, then we do stump-shaping and desensitization before booking them for fitting and gait training,” Mwangi adds.

Children need new artificial limbs every six months or so as they grow, though adults can typically get by with repairs in between necessary replacements.

For Thwol, her artificial leg has given her a sense of independence.

“Before, I could not move from one place to another,” she says. “Now, I can go places, to the market, to church.”

Sense of community 

Humanity & Inclusion’s psychosocial support team also works with Thwol, helping her to cope with her disability. Through counseling, Thwol came to realize the importance of channeling her energy into something productive like her beadwork.

“She can use her hands to make beading,” explains Wilkister Nyamweya, Humanity & Inclusion’s psychosocial support officer. “She meets with other women—with and without disabilities—to teach them this craft. It’s given her a sense of belonging and satisfaction.”

Thwol pulls herself across the quilt in her backyard, lifting herself into a chair and strapping into her artificial leg.

“My life has changed,” she says. “With all of the help from Humanity & Inclusion, I have a life now. I’m still alive.”

These activities are funded by the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration.