Patient – Edwin was hit by a bus

Patient – Edwin was hit by a bus

One horrible day Edwin was about to drive his mother home from a party when her hat blew off into the street. Edwin ran into the street to retrieve the hat, and he was hit by a bus. Tragically, the bus crushed one of Edwin’s arms and one of his legs beyond repair. 

Edwin was in ICU for 3 weeks after an above-knee amputation. When Edwin realized his leg had been amputated, he was so upset that he broke everything around him in the hospital. During his hospital stay, Edwin was also diagnosed with Leukemia, epilepsy and diabetes. The latter two are often complications of Leukemia. In addition, Edwin’s family broke apart and his wife left him –which is a somewhat common outcome for amputees.

After his hospital release, Edwin and his children lived with his mother since he was unable to support his impoverished family. This sad situation continued to spiral downwards rapidly. The entire family developed leukemia and Edwin’s youngest daughter eventually died.

In order to raise from his depths of despair, Edwin attended a huge disability rally in La Paz last June. Along with thousands of other protesters, Edwin was there to demand medical support from the government. (see previous story about this protest HERE)

At the rally, Edwin met a former patient who had been helped at the Bolivian prosthetic center. That patient told him about the center’s great work, and Edwin made an appointment immediately. Edwin felt very skeptical about what could be done for him, given all of his other medical complications. His doubts immediately disappeared! After practicing for two weeks in the PPAM aid (See previous PPAM story HERE), Edwin was able to walk two lengths of parallel bars which took him almost five minutes. After four weeks, Edwin was able to walk on his new leg for 40 minutes in the PPAM (aided by his crutches).

Once he had the prosthesis, Edwin’s first goal was to ride the new cable car system that traverses the city 100 feet above the rooftops. The clinic staff took him to the top of La Paz during the first days that Edwin felt strong enough to go outside on his prosthesis. Edwin was a new man! He vowed to get back to work, help his daughter, and pursue his dreams with two legs.