We care deeply about each and every one of our patients. They all have been impacted differently by their amputations and each one has a story to tell. When we write about them, our hope is that our words would not just be a trivial collection of stories of people who had something bad happen to them, but rather a testimony to how God loves and cares for them and is meeting their needs. They are worthy of respect and dignity. While we love and care for all our clients, sometimes their stories especially touch our hearts. This was the case with Vidal and Harriet.
Vidal
Vidal came to us after losing both his legs in a terrible work accident. He had been working in construction when on the second story of the building he came into contact with an exposed electrical wire. The two hundred and twenty volts of electricity threw him headfirst to the ground below. He survived the fall but was in a coma for eight days. When he finally came out of the coma, there was no recollection of the accident but the realization of what happened was sobering; he had lost both legs. Vidal will tell you it wasn’t luck that he survived, but God saved him. Unfortunately, after the accident, Vidal’s wife left him and took the children. He had been a self-sufficient, skilled tradesman with a wife and kids and now all of that had changed. He was hopelessly left on his own to figure out this new life in a wheelchair. With no work there was no money coming in and no means to provide for himself. In his own words, “somedays I ate, somedays I didn’t.” When he received the call that Filadelfia Center for Prosthetics had a spot for him, he rejoiced greatly! He thanked God at the good news that he would be able to walk again. It was an eight-hour bus ride for him to get to the clinic, but worth every minute. Vidal has a contagious smile and a bright outlook for a new life with a different future outside his wheelchair. After receiving two new legs and the gift of mobility, he couldn’t wait to find work again and start his new life.
Harriet
Across the world from Bolivia, in Africa, lives Harriet, a soft spoken woman with a beautiful smile and a sweet spirit. She had been orphaned as a child and brought up by her Uncle. Though she had married and had three children, when we met her she was back living at her Uncle’s home. You see, Harriet had diabetes. Without proper care, she lost one of her legs to the disease. After the amputation, her husband decided she was no longer of use to him and began abusing her, hoping she would leave. He eventually brought another woman in the house in an effort to force Harriet to leave. She eventually had no choice, as the abuse was too bad and she had no resources to fight with. In her culture, since men hold most of the power, she had no recourse. She was forced to leave, but the saddest part is that her husband refused to let Harriet take the children and she was not even permitted to see them. When we met her, It had been three months since she had been able to see her kids. Imagine, as a mother, being pulled away from your children and kept from seeing them. Even though she was telling us her story in a calm, soft-spoken voice, the look on her face revealed a deep sadness from being separated from her children, the only thing that brought her joy. Her dream was to be able to start a small business selling cabbages and tomatoes so she could earn some money to help her children with school books. If she could assist the family financially like this, then her husband would let her see them. The problem was, her uncle’s house was far from the village center where the vegetable stands were and it was near impossible to get there on crutches and without any means of transportation, she was confined to her house 24/7. With the new leg that we made for her, it is our hope and prayer that she is able to regain what was lost. Because of the generous support of our partners, Project Eleven Five was also able to give her the funding needed to start her new business!