Fazal smiling with his new prosthetic leg next to a Humanity & Inclusion rehabilitation specialist in Kandahar. | © T. MAYER / HI
Fazal smiling with his new prosthetic leg next to a Humanity & Inclusion rehabilitation specialist in Kandahar. | © T. MAYER / HI
When he was 16, Fazal worked in a garden in Kandahar, picking pomegranates. One day, the vehicle that Fazal and his co-workers were traveling in on their way to work ran over a mine on the side of the road. The explosion was terrible. Fazal was severely wounded. One of his co-workers was killed and two others were injured.
Fazal spent more than two months in a hospital in Kabul, where he underwent surgery to amputate his leg.
At Humanity & Inclusion’s rehabilitation center in Kandahar, a team of specialists immediately provided him with crutches so that he could get around on his own. Measurements were taken of his amputated leg so he could be fitted with an artificial leg. Fazal worked with experts to complete physical therapy exercises to strengthen his muscles and adapt to walking with the artificial limb.
“Now I can do my daily tasks by myself without the help of a member of my family,” Fazal explains. "I feel hopeful about the future."
Opened in 1996, Humanity & Inclusion’s rehabilitation center in Kandahar treats people injured by explosive weapons. It is the only rehabilitation center in southern Afghanistan. Survivors of other accidents, individuals with diabetes-related amputations and people with polio are among other patients treated by the 52 professionals specialized in physical therapy or psychosocial support at the clinic.
