Friday, April 30, 2010

The Patients

Note: I received permission from each patient pictured before I took their photo.
The hospital relied heavily upon the family of each patient to provide their food and clothing.  This is a picture of laundry day.  The patient's family washed their clothing outside in a tub with a bar of soap.  Their were close lines strung up between the tents, and those were also used to dry clothes.
 These are the tents that the earthquake victims stayed in.  There were four of them full of patients, and it got terribly hot inside them.
 Many of the patients were amputees.  This is the prosthetic leg that the therapists used for the patients that had had a leg amputated.  I had never seen anything like it.  It inflated with air, like an inflatable mattress.  I thought this was a very interesting design.  By inflated with air, it provided a custom fit for each patient.


This lady had both legs amputated, and the therapists installed a "grab bar" over her bed that she could use getting in and out of bed.


The patient pictured above had a leg amputated, and she had a wound on her arm that needed treatment.
This patient was working at the parallel bars to regain balance and strength in her leg.
No crutches!  The patient above was walking slowly, but successfully without crutches.

This gentleman had an external fixator, and he was able to walk with aide of a walker.
The patients needed a smiling face and they wanted to feel beautiful.  This young volunteer painted this patient's nails.

1 comment:

  1. Oh, wow, what touching pictures that tell such a beautiful story! Have so enjoyed reading and seeing your work there. Happy week-end!

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