Helping them be on their own

April 19, 2015 12:00 am | Updated 05:46 am IST - VISAKHAPATNAM:

A beneficiary being fitted with an artificial limb at a camp organised in Visakhapatnam on Saturday.

A beneficiary being fitted with an artificial limb at a camp organised in Visakhapatnam on Saturday.

A young man is holding a biscuit with the fingers of his right hand. A photographer is capturing it on the film.

So, what’s the big deal?

The young man lost both his upper limbs in an accident four years ago.

Since then, he has been dependent on his family members for everything.

Specially made artificial limbs have been provided to him at the ongoing artificial limbs and callipers camp being organised by the Rajasthani Sanskritic Mandal (RSM) Bhavan near Zilla Parishad.

Some of the beneficiaries were seen trying to use their new upper and lower limbs at the camp on Saturday, as experts assisted them in their proper use.

M. Nagalakshmi, a Class 8 student from Moolapala village of Nakkapalli mandal in the district, was waiting for her turn to get a limb fixed. Her right limb, deformed below her knee, had been literally hanging right from her birth.

Nagalakshmi would be fitted with an artificial limb and, after watching her progress, doctors plan to remove the deformed part so that she could walk freely with the artificial limb.

P. Rajesh fell off his motorcycle and sustained severe injuries to his left leg in 2012.

During screening, doctors detected that there was a tumour and his left leg had to be amputated below his knee. He was given artificial limbs at the camp.

He hopes to return to work as an autorickshaw driver and support his family.

The callipers and crutches are prepared by workers of the Mahavir Seva Sadan of Kolkata at the RSM Bhavan. The workers, three of whom have artificial limbs, are seen taking the measurement at the camp.

Tridipta Das, a polio-afflicted patient, is also seen taking measurement of a boy.

Mr. Das looks like any other normal person and one finds it hard to believe that he is standing on an artificial limb.

Limbs distribution today

The camp is being conducted to mark the golden jubilee of the RSM.

In all, 147 beneficiaries, many of whom are from A. P. and some from Odisha and Bihar, were screened at the camp.

The camp was organised in association with the GVMC, Prema Hospital, Department for Welfare of Disabled and Senior Citizens, and Uttarandhra Journalists’ Front, RSM president Chandmal Agarwal and UJF representative N. Nageswara Rao told a media conference.

The artificial aids would be distributed by GVMC Commissioner Pravin Kumar and Police Commissioner Amit Garg at a programme to be organised at RSM on Sunday.

Rajasthani Sanskritic Mandal near Zilla Parishad organises artificial limbs and callipers camp

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