Indian PM Modi leads giving of prosthetic limbs to 14 Marawi soldiers, over 100 other amputees

Fourteen soldiers who fought during the recent war in Marawi, together with more than a hun- dred Filipino amputees, received prosthetic limbs from India yesterday afternoon in an event led by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Damodardas Modi in Manila.

During his ASEAN Summit visit to the Philippines, Modi took time out to grace the distribution and fitting of 150 free prosthetic limbs to Filipino amputees at the Museum of a History of Ideas at the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) Compound.

He was joined by Mahaveer Philippines Foundation, Inc. (MPFI) Founder Veerendra Mehta and officers of PDP-Laban in Manila led by third district Councilor Bernardito Ang and former fifth district Councilor Felix Espiritu.

“Chief of staff has sent 14 amputees from the Marawi at this particular time. But from time to time we include soldiers,” MPFI President Enrique Lim said. “They are the ones who fought for the country. We owe them for sacrificing their lives for the comfort of your home and they fought for our country,” he said.

Among the recipients of the free prosthetic limbs were “Morris,” whose wife walked out on him after his leg was amputated following a motorcycle accident; and 10-year-old Carlos whose mother, Analiza, was left teary-eyed upon seeing him fitted with an artificial leg for the first time since he was born with a leg defect.

Espiritu, who is also an MPFI Councilor, Espiritu assured that the distribution of free prosthetic limbs in the Philippines will continue. “This is ongoing; non-stop. We have centers at the Philippine Orthopedic, PGH, and in Zamboanga,” he said.

Telling how it all started, Espiritu said that in 1985, Vimla Mehta, the wife of the MPFI founder, met a 19-year-old amputee in Pasay Vegetable Market.

When she asked why he has no artificial limb, he answered: “Ma’am, no can afford!”

She decided to bring the Jaipur Foot, an above-knee prosthesis designed and fabricated from high-quality polyethylene pipes, to Manila and shared the idea with then-Social Welfare and Development Secretary Mamita Pardo de Tavera.

The Mehtas eventually established the MPFI in 1986 and celebrates its 28th anniversary, coinciding with the ASEAN Summit.