Caryn Brady, Ms. Alexandre’s physical therapist, helped move her to a wheelchair. The need to adapt is challenging for all new amputees, but in Haiti, there is no rehabilitation hospital, few physical therapists and a limited supply of crutches, canes and wheelchairs gradually being reinforced by donations.
Photo: Lynsey Addario for The New York Times
Thousands of Haitians have had their limbs crushed and amputated due to the earthquake. There are now thousands of new, young amputees in Haiti. In the developed world, the leading cause for amputation is diabetes and the average age of an amputee is 80 years old. In Haiti however, many amputees are in the current labour force. Rehabilitation is necessary to involve the patients in society and rebuilding Haiti. They cannot become an additional burden on Haiti’s economy.
Craig Gavras, executive director of Limbs For Life Foundation, inspects a prosthetic leg donated to the foundation at their warehouse in Guthrie, Oklahoma February 03, 2010.
Photo by Steve Gooch, The Oklahoman
Foundations like Limbs for Life and Physicians for Peace are collecting gently used prosthetics for Haiti. (Updates from twitter.com/prostheticlimb all the time.) But prosthesis are highly personal objects, and patient compliance could certainly falter due to something as simple as the wrong colour.
We are working with doctors from the Jaipur Foot Organisation, specialised in developing world prosthetics, to develop low-cost but not low-tech prosthetics and assistive technology which can be made in a Fablab. The MIT class Developing World Prosthetics is especially focussed on Haiti after the recent earthquake. We’ll keep you updated!
