Erbil rehab center replaces limbs lost to landmines, disease
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Those living with physical disabilities in Iraq face a scarcity of rehabilitation options, even as the Islamic State war wages on and Kurdish fighters continue to be maimed by land mines and mortar attacks.
At the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) rehabilitation center in Erbil, there is a two-month wait for orthopedic and prosthetic services. People from Iraq, Syria and Iran are flocking here for its free assistance, and the resources are wearing thin.
Without those resources, many would never be able to walk again.
“Of course the major reason for amputation is mines and generally war-related reasons,” said Srood Suad Nafie, manager of the rehab center. “Around 85 percent of amputees are amputated by actions of war.”
Bashar Fadhel lost his left leg more than 20 years ago as a soldier in the Iran-Iraq war. He has learned to live with the life-altering effects of a landmine explosion, he said, but it was far from easy at first.
“It changed my life,” Fadhel said. “After my amputation, I did therapy in Baghdad.”
Fadhel said rehab in Iraq’s capital was inadequate and he felt hopeless about his situation. He came to Erbil’s ICRC rehab center and has not looked back since.
“I came (to Erbil) because of the hospitality and professionality of the center,” he said on Monday, before his rehab exercises with Khalid Abdul Rahman, team leader of the physical rehab unit.
“I am comfortable with the process here,” Fadhel continued.
The growing wait list concerns Nafie and his staff, but it is far from unusual in Iraq. Nafie noted that other rehab centers in the country are dragged down by wait lists more than three times longer than the ICRC’s.
“We are not happy with it and we are trying to overcome it,” Nafie said. “We are receiving a lot of refugees and IDPs, and the wait list is increasing.”
Citing a lack of human resources and materials as problems weighing on the center, he stressed that increasing productivity would only happen while maintaining quality.
ICRC’s rehab center functions to provide either prosthetics (replacing a missing body part) or orthosis (assisting a weak body part) for patients, Nafie explained. Clientele include fighters injured in battle, individuals suffering from cerebral palsy or paralysis, and any disabled person in need of free assistance.
A team of 32 staff members, including seven prosthetic/orthopedic technicians and seven physical therapists, help 10-40 visitors per day, and create more than 1,000 prosthetic/orthopedic devices per year, Nafie said.
First, doctors fit patients with casts. The casts are then filled with gypsum in order to replicate the exact shape of the limb. The fake limbs are subject to extensive alignment specifications that continue until they fit the patient perfectly.
Patients then have the option for regular physical therapy to help them adapt to the new limb. They first learn to stand, and then eventually walk and use stairs.
In addition to assisting the disabled, the center also assists teachers and physical therapists who come from around Iraq to learn from the ICRC, said Nafie. The Erbil center supports several rehab sites throughout Iraq, and ensures that resources and training are spread throughout the country.
One of Nafie’s first patients also happens to be one of the youngest. The 7-year-old’s story reminds Nafie of the horror of war, and the life-saving nature of his rehab work.
The boy was a shepherd raising goats in a village 15 kilometers (9.3 miles) from Erbil, Nafie recalled twenty years after the incident. The boy wandered into an abandoned war post and had both legs blown off by a landmine.
“He was successfully rehabbed,” Nafie said. “Most children are successfully rehabbed.”
At the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) rehabilitation center in Erbil, there is a two-month wait for orthopedic and prosthetic services. People from Iraq, Syria and Iran are flocking here for its free assistance, and the resources are wearing thin.
Without those resources, many would never be able to walk again.
“Of course the major reason for amputation is mines and generally war-related reasons,” said Srood Suad Nafie, manager of the rehab center. “Around 85 percent of amputees are amputated by actions of war.”
Bashar Fadhel lost his left leg more than 20 years ago as a soldier in the Iran-Iraq war. He has learned to live with the life-altering effects of a landmine explosion, he said, but it was far from easy at first.
“It changed my life,” Fadhel said. “After my amputation, I did therapy in Baghdad.”
Fadhel said rehab in Iraq’s capital was inadequate and he felt hopeless about his situation. He came to Erbil’s ICRC rehab center and has not looked back since.
“I came (to Erbil) because of the hospitality and professionality of the center,” he said on Monday, before his rehab exercises with Khalid Abdul Rahman, team leader of the physical rehab unit.
“I am comfortable with the process here,” Fadhel continued.
The growing wait list concerns Nafie and his staff, but it is far from unusual in Iraq. Nafie noted that other rehab centers in the country are dragged down by wait lists more than three times longer than the ICRC’s.
“We are not happy with it and we are trying to overcome it,” Nafie said. “We are receiving a lot of refugees and IDPs, and the wait list is increasing.”
Citing a lack of human resources and materials as problems weighing on the center, he stressed that increasing productivity would only happen while maintaining quality.
ICRC’s rehab center functions to provide either prosthetics (replacing a missing body part) or orthosis (assisting a weak body part) for patients, Nafie explained. Clientele include fighters injured in battle, individuals suffering from cerebral palsy or paralysis, and any disabled person in need of free assistance.
A team of 32 staff members, including seven prosthetic/orthopedic technicians and seven physical therapists, help 10-40 visitors per day, and create more than 1,000 prosthetic/orthopedic devices per year, Nafie said.
First, doctors fit patients with casts. The casts are then filled with gypsum in order to replicate the exact shape of the limb. The fake limbs are subject to extensive alignment specifications that continue until they fit the patient perfectly.
Patients then have the option for regular physical therapy to help them adapt to the new limb. They first learn to stand, and then eventually walk and use stairs.
In addition to assisting the disabled, the center also assists teachers and physical therapists who come from around Iraq to learn from the ICRC, said Nafie. The Erbil center supports several rehab sites throughout Iraq, and ensures that resources and training are spread throughout the country.
One of Nafie’s first patients also happens to be one of the youngest. The 7-year-old’s story reminds Nafie of the horror of war, and the life-saving nature of his rehab work.
The boy was a shepherd raising goats in a village 15 kilometers (9.3 miles) from Erbil, Nafie recalled twenty years after the incident. The boy wandered into an abandoned war post and had both legs blown off by a landmine.
“He was successfully rehabbed,” Nafie said. “Most children are successfully rehabbed.”