Polio can be a devastating disease. Once a worldwide epidemic until the creation of a vaccine in 1955, polio is now confined to a small number of countries primarily in Asia and Africa. The work to fight the contraction of and treatment of polio patients still continues.One such woman that has been helped by BCT, contracted the disease at the age of five. Polio left her crippled from the waist down. She has now been told by our ground team that after twenty-eight years of crawling she will walk again.

The polio began by constricting the muscles in her legs rendering her unable to stand up. This meant that when relaxed, her heels would touch the bottom of her back and her toes curled inwards towards the soles of her feet meaning that at best she could only  kneel. The position she was left in crushed any chance of her having a normal life or indeed being able to provide for herself in the form of work. For most people of her background, labouring on farms is the common work available. Unable to work for a living she has been left no choice but to beg for survival. For the last 28 years the young patient has begged passersby for loose change and scraps of food and hoped one day a miracle would occur...

That miracle came on what was just another day of begging. Our patient was listening to the radio when she heard that BCT's ground team was having an open day where all could come for a medical assessment and seek free medical help and advice. With the help of a few friends she made the gruelling journey, together with her small son whom she also cares for, to the assessment centre where our ground team and Dr. Schaeffer were eagerly awaiting her arrival. It was decided best by everyone that her 12 month old son should stay with his grandmother a few towns away for the duration of her treatment.

Dr. Schaeffer, our ground teams orthopaedic surgeon, was asked to come to the centre to asses this extraordinary case of bravery and courage. Firstly he asked the patient to lay flat on her back to assess just how much the virus has constricted her legs. When a healthy person takes the lying down position on their back, the legs naturally lay flat and straight with the top of their feet facing them. In our patients case  it was physically impossible for her to straighten out her legs. The patient had not been able to use her legs properly since the age of five.  This meant that the muscles had been unable to strengthen or develop in her early years making both legs very skinny from the thigh down.

All was not lost though. The patient through her years of disability  had managed  to get around  by crawling and dragging herself along the ground. In the process, she had been inadvertently strengthening her arm and shoulder muscles. Dr Schaeffer saw this immediately and made the following assessment:

"The patient has strong buttock muscles, no contracture at the thighs but very stiff knee joints. The legs practically have no flexibility at all and although no contracture, the thigh muscles have become very hard. All of this aside I believe the strength in her arms will make using crutches easy. With surgery, I can make this woman walk again."

Upon hearing this prognosis, the patient broke down in tears of joy.

On Tuesday the 10th November 2011 the patient was wheeled into the operating theatre and the physiotherapist began to clean her legs with antiseptic soap and started preparing her for the operation. Dr. Schaeffer decided that a local anaesthetic through her spine would be best for this kind of operation and  once the patient was prepped and made comfortable, the anaesthetic was administered and the operation began. The surgery entailed breaking her legs.

The surgery was a great success. Once the surgery was complete the doctor and his team had to take a break as hours of precise painstaking surgery had taken its toll on both him and the nurses assisting. Upon the surgeons departure it was the physiotherapists turn to play his part in giving this woman a completely new life. He began the bandaging and casting process on the freshly operated on legs This procedure was vital as it  would keep the patients leg in the correct position and hold them there to ensure that after surgery the legs did not return to their natural polio affected state.

This operation ended 28 years of crawling around trying to survive off scraps. This brave young woman was also trying to raise her first born son the best she could. Once the incisions and wounds from the surgery have healed the ground teams physiotherapist will begin to teach the patient how to walk using crutches. Hopefully in time the patient will not need the use of crutches and will be able to walk independently for the very first time.

This operation was funded by BCT. You can see other medical miracles by visiting our Medical section. You can also donate to any cause supported by BCT by clicking our Donation link.