DEO GETS A NEW LEG

Deo doesn't usually look this serious
Very uncomfortable crutches
This leg is way too big

REPORT BY: SASHA FRASER

Deo is my friend who is here in Kilema Hospital. He is here because he needs an artificial leg. He always has a smile on his face and has adapted to his situation very quickly. In Kilema Hospital he zooms around with his crutches and sometimes plays tag with me, Eva, Lachlan or Nicholas and Vincent. Right now he is waiting for KCMC (Kilimanjaro Christian Medical College) in Moshi to outfit him for his new leg that Cacha is buying for him. About two weeks ago I went to KCMC hospital with Deo and his father. We went there to see Dr. Omar Kinyongo because he was the doctor who would outfit Deo for his new prosthetic leg. When I went into the office of doctor Omar it looked like it was an very old office, it had broken prosthetic legs everywhere, old tools, a huge drill and a big mysterious machine that was used to make the prosthetic legs,.

For the first five minutes Dr. Omar tried to fit Deo with different legs. The first one was too big, so he went out of the room and came back in with a smaller one and it fit. Deo was very happy. I knew it because his eyes were shining with excitement. I think he was already thinking about going back to school. Because he didn’t have a prosthetic leg, he had not been in school for several months!

Later when Dr. Omar had finished outfitting Deo, we went to a room full of gymnastic equipment. I asked him what this room was used for and he said it was used for people who were learning to walk again because of them having no leg. So Deo and I stayed there for about one to two hours. He was practising walking and I was playing with a wheelchair.

I interviewed Deo and asked him several questions:

-How do you feel having one leg?
-Do you ever get tired with crutches?
-How did you lose your leg?
-Where did they amputate your leg?
-Why did they amputate your leg?
-When you get your prosthetic leg are you going to return to school?
-Where is your school?

His answers were:

-“It doesn’t feel that good having one leg”
-“Yes I get tired some times from using my crutches’.
-“I was chasing my friend then it all went black and when I woke up I only had one leg”.
-“They amputated it at KCMC HOSPITAL in Moshi Town”.
-“They amputated it because my knee was broken so bad it was shattered”.
-“When I get my prosthetic I will return to school and be in form one”.
-“My school is in Kyala, up the mountain from Kilema”.

Deos answers were always very short. I think he was very sad talking about losing his leg.

On my next visit to Tanzania I hope to see Deo with his new leg going back to school. I am very proud of my mom for helping Deo. My mom has put several days of effort into helping Deo get his new leg. Without her help he probably would still have no hope of getting a new leg.