Sarah Watson

Sarah was born on 1 January 2015 in Mbenje Village in Msanje district. When she was born, her parents were surprised to see that it looked as if their child’s left leg had been amputated through the hip joint.

All of her life Sarah had been using auxiliary crutches to get about but these crutches are heavy and it is very tiring, so, when Sarah was 6, her parents took her to Beit CURE, an American surgical NGO, for assistance. Beit CURE referred her to 500 miles at Kamuzu Central Hospital (KCH) for a prosthetic device.

A few weeks later, the whole family arrived at 500 miles at KCH.  A hip disarticulation prosthesis was prescribed immediately and fabrication of the prosthesis started on the same day. Sarah was booked to come one week later for fitting.

The fitting day went well but it was a struggle for Sarah to walk on new leg because it was the first time she had ever used a prosthesis but at the end of the day, we were all delighted to see the patient walking between the parallel bars which we have at our centre for gait training. Have a look at the video.  With a lot of practice at home and getting used to the prosthesis while doing everyday tasks, we are hoping that she will be able to walk independently without the support of crutches.

Sarah was very happy to see herself with the prosthesis in our full-length mirrors. She said that now she is going to play with her friends (throwing balls while being able to balance) and that it will be much easier for her to go to school and join in with all of the activities there.

Sarah’s parents and other family members who escorted her were possibly even happier than Sarah!