Empowering 80 people with disabilities in Iraq

Ahmed, 15 years old, lives in Mosul together with his extended family. Diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy, both of his heel chords are shortened, a common side-effect of the lifelong movement disorder. Unfortunately, his abnormal gaithas brought him much shame within his community. 

When we first met Ahmed, he was mainly walking on his tiptoes, with his legs slightly inwardly rotated. We started by simply giving him physical therapy exercises to improve his gait and frequently spoke words of encouragement, reminding him of his infinite value. Over the course of a few weeks, we observed small steps of improvement, but also realized that hewould greatly benefit from surgery on his shortened heel chords. 

A surgical intervention was made possible through Operation Mercy’s partnership with another non-profit called His Foundation that performs orthopedic surgeries on people who don’t have the means to pay for such treatment. 

Ahmed’s surgery was performed in the Kurdish region of Iraq in late March, and soon thereafter he was able to return to his hometown Mosul. Our physical therapist and local nurse and case worker then started follow-up treatments. They visited Ahmed and his family weekly for wound care management and to instruct him on how to do his post-surgical exercises. 

In May, the casts on both sides were removed and the process of the actual physical therapy rehabilitation started. In the meantime, Ahmed has received careful instructions on how to strengthen his core body and his lower extremity, as well as how to stretch his heel chords to prevent them from tightening up again. 

During the last couple of weeks, Ahmed’s gait and posture have significantly improved. His mother told us that prior to the surgery, Ahmed would often refuse to go on visits to relatives because he was too ashamed to do so - but this is not the case anymore. He now feels free to go out of the house and on visits, unashamed of his disability thanks to his newly discovered confidence. 

Our current goal for Ahmed is for him to be secure and confident enough in walking so that he can return to school and finish his education. We believe that this is only the beginning of an encouraging journey for Ahmed and his entire family.

Today’s story is about Ziyad. 

Ziyad is 4 years old and has Trisomy 21, as well as a paralysis in his legs. He lives in a camp for displaced people in the Kurdish Region of Iraq. The first day our team met him, he didn’t have any control over his body or his movements. He was always laying on the ground. But after doing regular follow ups for about a year now, Ziyad is now able to sit and stand for up to two to three seconds. He has also learned to crawl on his tummy and to walk on all fours. His mother has been very encouraging, and she has been doing the exercises with him regularly. It brings her great joy to see her son improve day after day. We'd like to see him be able to take steps by himself. Once he’s reached this goal, we’d like to provide him with braces for both his legs so that he can learn to walk by himself.