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Haiti six months on – learning to walk again
Nine year old Sebastian learns to navigate around the tent city he now calls home with his crutches and new prosthesis provided by CBM
On the water’s edge of Port-au-Prince, an active boy forges his way through the narrow alley ways between tents, maneuvering over the rough terrain.
Six months after having his right leg amputated, nine-year-old Sebastian has adapted well to living with crutches and a prosthesis in the crowded tent city in Haiti.
“To see him move around the camp with his crutches, you would think he has had them his entire life,” says Julie Hard, a physiotherapist from CBM Canada. “He has no trouble running, turning on a dime or darting between tents. He’s actually hard to keep up with.”
Sebastian is one of thousands of people in Haiti who are learning to live with an amputation.
“Thanks to the generosity of CBM donors, children like Sebastian are literally being saved by CBM’s wound care and physiotherapy,” says Allen Foster, President of CBM. “Follow-up care after surgery is critical to survival.”
CBM and its partner, Handicap International, have more than 20 physiotherapists working in 10 local hospitals and nine community based health care centers called “Antenna Handicap” throughout Port-au-Prince.
An only child, Sebastian was trapped under a beam for three days after the quake turned his house into a pile of rubble. His mother lay dead beside him. Tragically, he lost his family, his home and his leg.
If he had not been found and pulled from the rubble, Sebastian would have died. His Aunt Roseleine and Uncle Claudy, who have eight children of their own, took Sebastian to Diquini Hospital where his badly crushed leg was amputated.
The physiotherapy exercises and wound care provided by CBM physiotherapists at Diquini Hospital prepared Sebastian to be a good candidate for a prosthesis.
He was released on March 22nd and now lives with his aunt and uncle in a tent city on the water’s edge. He still receives outpatient care through the prosthetic centre in Port-au-Prince.
Without proper care, his amputation might have resulted in a serious infection, warranting a secondary amputation and threatening his life.
CBM will continue to give Sebastian ongoing rehabilitation, training, and assistive devices for at least the next three years.
Sebastian says he can’t wait to return to school, something he didn’t want to do after his leg was amputated. He was afraid the other kids would make fun of him. But now he has his prosthetic and can run and play with other kids, he is excited about going back to school.
When asked what he wishes for Sebastian simply looks at his aunt and uncle and says “I pray my aunt and my ‘dad’ will be taken care of, because they have taken care of me.”
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