PESHAWAR: Breaking a bone or two is one thing! Breaking back or neck is yet another, as unlike any other bone in our body, the spine, and (back bone) not only keeps our body straight & tall, it also protects the delicate nervous tissue called the spinal cord, which serves as a link between our body and the brain.
Though it takes a violent force to break our back or neck, most of the time the impact is so strong that it damages our spinal cord resulting into partial or complete loss of function below the level of injury.
Think of a healthy and young male or female becoming the prisoner of his/her own body, losing control over his/her bowl & bladder, within a split second. One can easily imagine the level of frustration and anxiety this person will go through, yet there is another tragic twist to it. What if this young person was the only bread winner of his/her family? That’s where breaking one’s back or neck can mount to a broken family.
Road accidents being the first cause of spinal cord injuries, it mostly affects people below 40 in the developed countries, however in Pakistan, the mean age of our patients is 26 and the leading cause remains falls from roof tops, trees, electric poles etc, followed by an alarming rate of fire arm/gunshot wounds.
Paraplegic Center Hayatabad, is the only state of the art facility, providing free of cost Medical/Surgical and Nursing Care, along with Physical, Occupational, Vocational and Psycho-social rehabilitation services to patients with Spinal cord injuries from all over the country as well as Afghanistan. Established by International Committee for Red Cross ICRC in 1984, it is now taken over by the Department of Health Government of Khyber Pukhtunkhwa, working as an autonomous body.
Syed Mohammad Ilyas a Philanthropists and Chief Executive of the centre said “After the treatment to patient we provide them technical & vocational training of Computer hardware, cell phone repairing” He added “In our centre we teach female patient baby care and cooking method”. Once spinal cord damages the patient can’t set and perform their work like normal people; patient(s) must use a wheel chair. We thus teach them how to manage work in such a condition, cooking, baby care etc in a wheel chair. “We use to visit once in a month, for our patient in their home for a complete medical checkup, this facility is available in Peshawar, Charsadda, Mardan, Swabi & Nowshera district”. Theses visits continue till six months after discharging the patient(s) from hospital. “We solve our patients’ problems in their homes”
A woman with in Ashtnagri Pashto Accent tells about her tragic story “I was fallen from the second story of my home. On that time I was busy in daily home work when I slipped. After touching ground I couldn’t feel my lower parts of the body. Now four years after that accident I am in this recovery centre.” In her tragic voice she told “I was living happy nuptial life with my husband but after this incident he left me. Now I am living with my parents. My parents supported me a lot in these four years.” While telling me everything about her past life she couldn’t control emotions, diamonds were falling in the form tears from her eyes. About her recovery she said “now I can sit easily, can do my own work like a normal human being” and in a very happy tone she said “I am happy here.”
According to Dr Muhammad Ilyas, “from Kabul to Karachi it’s the only hospital where we provide free treatment to those patients whose spinal cord is damaged accidentally.” He claims that once this health centre was the only one in the entire south Asia. Currently, there are a total number of 78 patients from Khyber pakhtunkhwa, Fata, other parts of Pakistan & Afghanistan. “From next month we will start spinal surgery.” Dr Muhammad Ilyas added.
The story is publish in The Lahore Times:http://www.lhrtimes.com/2012/12/20/a-rey-of-hope-in-peshawar/
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