Prosthetic limb helps mother walk again

A PHOENIX mother will this week have a prosthetic limb fitted, thanks to an India-based NPO.

Pradhika Rooplall, 59, has been wheelchair bound after her left foot was amputated above the ankle.

“A block of ice pierced my foot and turned into a sore and caused gangrene. I was told at a provincial hospital that because of my age I would need to wait for about three to four years and only if I passed a fitness test I may receive an artificial limb.

“This put me in a state of depression and changed my life dramatically. Family and friends had to pay for a caregiver for me.

“Thanks to this organisation for giving me a new limb I will have hope again and be able to be independent,” said Rooplall.

Rooplall and 43 others will have prosthetics fitted.

From Thursday to Saturday, affiliates of the Narayan Seva Sansthan (NSS) in India will be at the Kendra Hall in Durban to fit prosthetics and take measurements for those still in need.

The NPO was established in

India in 1985 with a view to serving patients who are physically and economically disadvantaged through the free-of-cost corrective surgeries of patients suffering from polio and other congenital disabilities.

To date, more than 377 850 corrective surgeries have been performed at the organisation’s hospital in Udaipur in Rajasthan.

With branches in Durban and Lenasia, in Gauteng, NSS conducted diagnostic clinics and took measurements for artificial limbs last year.

“Now the time has come to change their lives as promised by us and we shall be fitting these prosthetics for those patients, free of charge,” read a statement by NSS.

Trishal Sharma, secretary of the Narayan Seva Sansthan in South Africa, said people from various parts of Durban would have artificial limbs fitted later this week.

“Measurements for the prosthetics were done in September last year during medical camps in Durban and Lenasia in Joburg. The prosthesis was made in India. These are the first recipients who are unable to afford such prosthetics and come from indigent communities,” said Sharma.

He said the organisation relied on donor funding.