The 9-year-old Iraqi girl who lost her legs in an airstrike walked on two prosthetic legs at Shriners Hospital for Children in Greenville for the first time today.
“She was like, ‘Look, I got my second leg. I’m walking,’ ” said interpreter Ghada Saif. “She was really excited.”
“It was one of those moments like when your baby takes her first steps,” said Selena Frank. “You can tell she’s wanting to get moving.” (more…)
The X-ray on the light box exposes the stark reality of Salee Allawe’s injuries — jagged bone below the left knee, a healed thigh fracture on what’s left of her right leg, chunks of shrapnel in the flesh.
“You have a very short segment like this,” says Dr. David Westberry, pointing to the X-ray before the 9-year-old Iraqi girl arrives for an appointment, “and it’s hard to fit a prosthesis that will fit well and stay on, and that small segment of bone doesn’t really function well.”
After she lost both legs in a missile strike last November, doctors in Iraq amputated Salee’s right leg at the knee and the left leg below the knee, says Westberry, an orthopedic surgeon with Shriners Hospital for Children in Greenville. (more…)