Artificial limbs allow wounded Syrians to get on with life

Clinic on the border of Turkey fits patients with artificial limbs for free.

Three-year-old Seif cries on April 20, 2016, as his mother tries to put on one of his two new prosthetic limbs during a rehabilitation session at a clinic in the Turkish border town of Reyhanli. Hundreds of wounded Syrians come to the facility every week for fittings. The boy lost his legs after a rocket in the Syrian city of Aleppo hit the car his family was in. Beam Janssen / Associated PressShow less

REYHANLI, TURKEY // Every time 3-year-old Seif wears his new prosthetic legs, the toddler puts up a fight. He has made peace with walking on his stumps, but there is no dodging his daily rehabilitation session at a prosthetic clinic in southern Turkey.

Dozens of wounded Syrians come each month to the small clinic in the dusty border town of Reyhanl to be fitted with artificial limbs, their best shot at restoring a semblance of a normal life.

Treatment is free and only for Syrian civilians and fighters who have lost body parts in the Syrian conflict. Workers at the clinic manufacture prosthetic body parts while patients are in therapy.

Seif, whose last name wasn’t disclosed, was riding in the back seat of a car in the Syrian city of Aleppo in February, when a rocket hit the car blowing off his two legs and the leg of his older brother. Their parents, who were sitting in the front, survived with minor injuries.

The family recently crossed into Turkey so that the brothers could be fitted with artificial limbs at the National Syrian Project for Prosthetic Limbs (NSPPL), a Syrian-run venture supported by three agencies: Syria Relief, SEMA and Every Syrian.

“The number of wounded people is growing,” said Raed Al Masri, who has been running the clinic since it opened in February 2013. He’s unsure what is causing the spike in numbers.

“Perhaps it is the Russian bombing or maybe people have become more aware of the centre,” he said. By his count, more than 50,000 Syrians are amputees in need of treatment. The clinic works on an average of 100 cases per month.

The technicians working at the clinic are all Syrian refugees. They largely learnt their craft on the go, but training has brought personnel up to European standards, Mr Al Masri said.

It takes about five days to manufacture a limb, test it and fit it on a patient. The rehabilitation process can stretch from one week to several months depending on the condition and morale of the patient.

“People who have prosthetic limbs are in a very difficult psychological state, so what about the people who have no limbs, or have a handicap?” Mr Al Masri said. “They are in a different category, in an even more difficult state.”

Those in the clinic are the lucky ones and, generally, they know it. Ahmed Abdullah, a 30-year-old rebel who lost both legs in 2012 while fighting against Syrian president Bashar Assad’s government, said his life was transformed after being fitted with artificial limbs.

“Before I had a prosthetic limb, I would get annoyed sometimes because I couldn’t get things for myself,” said the former fighter. “I would need my brother or sister to get it for me. After … my life became — I can’t say 100 per cent — but 90 to 95 per cent good.”

For Seif the transition is impossible to put into words. The routine starts with tears, but ends in laughter as he takes his first steps with the help of his mother.

“He’s happier,” she said.

* Associated Press