IDLIB, Syria (North Press) – Many parents in Syria’s Idlib grieve for the future of their children who were injured during the war years and lost limbs, while they are unable to secure prostheses that improve their spirits and help them continue their lives.
10-year-old Walid al-Asa’ad’s mother, whose family was displaced from the city of Saraqeb to Idlib, still remembers the boy’s tears when he found out his leg was amputated after he was injured a year ago during a bombing by Syrian government forces in the southern countryside of Idlib.
Walid and other children in Idlib and its countryside have turned from lively students to victims who needs help in all aspects of life. Many of them are isolated and suffer from depression, and inability to obtain prosthetic limbs further worsens their conditions.
They were vibrant
Walid previously dreamed of becoming a professional footballer, which he describes as “my favorite sport.”
His grief began when he was injured in his city, Saraqeb, a year ago. “I was on my way to school, when a missile from a warplane fell near me,” he explained.
On December 21, 2019, Syrian and Russian warplanes raided the city of Saraqeb, resulting in casualties and injuries at that time.
Walid told North Press that he did not remember any details besides being in the hospital with his parents and hearing the doctor telling them, “He has to have his foot amputated, because it is severely damaged and cannot be fixed.”
“This was followed by the lack of medicines and medical care, and the constant bombing of hospitals that made the minor injuries into disasters,” his mother added.
The family tried to enter Turkey for treatment, hoping that they would not have to choose amputation, “but we were not able to.”
The mother describes her son’s condition now. “He turned from a vibrant child into a desperate and isolated person, refusing even to meet relatives or sit with them.”
Many injured children are also forced to leave their education due to the lack of special schools for their cases, in addition to being bullied by their peers.
12-year-old Ahmed al-Othman, a displaced child from the eastern countryside of Ma’arat al-Nu’man, was forced to leave school when his leg was amputated after he was hit by shrapnel from a mortar that landed near his home in October 2019.
After the passage of seven months, al-Othman tried to return to school using crutches, but he faced difficulties related to the lack of transportation to reach the school, which is one kilometer away, in addition to the presence of stairs inside the school.
“My mates were helping me reach my class, but I was being mocked by others,” he told North Press.
Thousands of dollars for prostheses
Injuries of this type often worsen, becoming permanent injuries such as amputations of limbs, permanent deformities, paralysis, or disruption of some vital functions, but even the dream about obtaining prostheses or wheelchairs does not seem within the reach of the families of these injured children.
Nine-year-old Rasha al-Ibrahim, who comes from the town of Ehsem in Zawiya Mountain in the southern countryside of Idlib, was unable to obtain a prosthesis after her left hand was amputated three years ago.
“We lost her one-year-old brother when our house was hit by regime warplanes, and her hand was amputated. She tried to visit the prosthetic centers to get a smart prosthesis, but to no avail,” her father told North Press.
“I was unable to pay thousands of dollars for the prosthesis,” he added.
The price of prostheses sold in private centers exceed the financial capacity of the injured, as the price of a normal prosthesis ranges between $600-1,500, while the price of a smart prosthesis ranges between $3,500-4,000.
Children with amputated limbs suffer from the difficulty of obtaining artificial limbs and delay in appointments due to overcrowding, in addition to the need for children to constantly change their prosthetic limbs to suit their new growth, according to specialists.
Muhammad al-Omar (a pseudonym) a technician in the installation of prosthetic limbs in the Idlib region, agrees with the families of injured children that the conditions of many amputees in Idlib are exacerbated by the lack of treatment and prosthetic limbs in the available centers.
He told North Press that the support provided to free prosthetic centers is limited, and the process of manufacturing these limbs is done in small quantities, which forces patients to wait for long periods.