Iraq-Jordan: Mouna, a double amputee - Part II: Her First Steps
A five part video series provided by MSF on Mouna, a victim of the war in Iraq and a double amputee who was provided surgery and treatment by MSF surgeons, medical staff and physioterapists in Amman, Jordan.
MOUNA VIDEO SERIES
Iraq-Jordan: Mouna, a double amputee - Part I: Step by Step See video
Iraq-Jordan: Mouna, a double amputee - Part II: Her First Steps See video
Iraq-Jordan: Mouna, a double amputee - Part III: Put to the test See video
Iraq-Jordan: Mouna, a double amputee - Part IV: Overcoming the pain See video
Iraq-Jordan: Mouna, a double amputee - Part V: Walking again See video
Episode 2 – Her first steps
Final adjustments are being made before presenting Mouna with her prosthetic limbs. Three years on, this is the moment she has been waiting for… she wants to be able to walk again.
First of all she has to put this sock on to protect her stump which is still sensitive. Then the technician adds a second protection and checks to see whether she is suffering any pain. Then he asks her to lift herself up onto that leg…
The aim is for her to regain her balance gradually and to see how she adapts to this new position…
And now the other leg… Mouna is not used to such exercises, she uses all the strength in her arms to lift her body up a second time… A new, strange sensation.. not only standing up again, this time it’s on new legs. Today she will just be trying on her artificial limbs to see whether they fit well and whether they cause any pain.
Mousa Hermas:(en arabe) When you stand up, you need to contract your muscles to be able to walk. They won’t walk alone, it’s you who has to make the effort to walk again.
Learning to walk again has become this 13 year old girl’s ultimate challenge… Encouraged by her uncle and prosthetics technicians, she focuses all her energy on trying to move her artificial limbs. It’s difficult for the moment, but she has time to learn…
Mouna has one more exercise to do before this sessions is over. She has let go of the bars. She hasn’t experienced this sensation since the day that bomb tore her legs away while she was playing in the garden…
Mousa Hermas:(in Arabic): "You think you’re going to fall if you let go of the bars? You won’t, I’m holding you. If you’re frightened it won’t work...OK, contract your muscles...I promise, I am holding onto you...Look you’re standing..." Does it hurt ? And your knees?
