^{Surgeries put foreigners back on their feet}

BENGALURU: Mohammad Saeed Ahmed, 42, a civil war victim from Yemen, and Naeesha, 65, an accident victim from Iraq, have got a new lease of life, thanks to doctors in Bengaluru. Mohammed, a history teacher and school principal, was shot in the spine during the first few months of the war, which continues to ravage Yemen. Confined to a wheelchair, he was told by many that he would never be able to walk again.But he was undeterred.Convinced of getting cured, Mohammed travelled to India in September 2016 and was admitted to Sakra World Hospital, where he underwent a tendon transfer surgery in his right foot.
“I conducted the operation three months ago, during which we rearranged the tendons in his foot. The surgery is suggested to patients suffering from nerve damage,“ said Dr Mendonca, senior consultant, plastic surgery, Sakra World Hospital.
Post-surgery, Mohammed was tended to by the physical medicine department. Dr Maheshwarappa BM, senior consultant and head of physical medicine rehabilitation and sports medicine, said: “He has been undergoing physiotherapy for three months.“ He will return home soon.
Naeesha remained wheelchair-bound for years, after an accident left her hip severely injured. Though she recovered, her condition got worse as she grew up. A few years ago, she started experiencing difficulty while walking.
Even hip replacement surgery didn't help much. She was confined to the wheelchair once again. “I consulted several doctors in Iraq and was told I would never be able to get back on my feet. Then I came to Bengaluru and underwent a six-hour reconstruction surgery at Columbia Asia hospital. I began to walk barely two days later,“ recalled Naeesha.
Dr Ravi Chandra Kelkar, orthopaedic surgeon at Columbia Asia who treated Naeesha, said: “Her left hip was damaged and the socket of the left hip bone had gone up to the urethra. Her thigh bone was missing and a reconstruction surgery was vital for her to be able to walk again.“