Mahmoud Fuat Dahshan, 64, lost his left leg in an Israeli attack on a home in Gaza’s Zeitoun neighborhood and applied to a prosthetics project supported by the Turkish Red Crescent to walk again.
Dahshan said his leg was amputated after he was injured in November 2023 and that he traveled to Egypt for treatment. He said that, while returning to Gaza from Egypt, Israeli soldiers forced him to choose between his prosthetic leg and the wheelchair he was sitting in, forcing him to leave the prosthesis behind.
Dahshan said his prosthetic leg was taken from him without any explanation. After new measurements were taken at the prosthetics center in Gaza, he said he hoped to walk again and move around without depending on a wheelchair. Dahshan thanked the Turkish Red Crescent for its project supporting people who were injured or lost limbs.
Project being carried out in two phases
Sadi Debur, director of the Turkish Red Crescent’s Gaza office, said the project aims to help people who have lost limbs partially regain their mobility and ability to manage daily life.
Debur said prostheses had been fitted for 10 injured people in August and September, and that another 10 people were planned to benefit from the project in its second phase. He said one of the project’s biggest challenges was the insufficient availability in Gaza of raw materials and basic components used to produce prostheses.
Husni Muhenna, public relations officer at the prosthetics center operated by the Gaza Municipality, said they had continued providing services to injured people and those who lost limbs since the war began. Muhenna said more than 6,000 amputation cases had been recorded during the war, based on data recorded in the health system by the Palestinian Ministry of Health and the International Committee of the Red Cross.
Muhenna said the center faced shortages of plaster and other basic materials needed to produce prostheses, adding that restrictions had created problems in bringing the required materials into Gaza. He said cooperation with the Turkish Red Crescent covered the provision of suitable prostheses for approximately 20 amputation cases.
Young prosthesis user begins walking again
Adi Abu Warda, who received a prosthesis in the first phase of the project, is undergoing physical therapy and walking exercises at the center. Abu Warda said his leg was amputated in an attack on October 10, 2023, and that Gaza lacked the facilities needed to produce prostheses at the time.
Abu Warda said the prosthesis had enabled him to return to his daily life. He said he had previously been unable to leave his tent, but could now walk and go outside with his friends.
Health centers in Gaza face difficulties not only in producing prostheses and providing rehabilitation services, but also in obtaining basic medical supplies. The ongoing humanitarian crisis in the region is making it harder for people who have lost limbs to receive treatment and regain mobility.
