Karachi:
As soon as eight -year -old Sidra Al Bordeeni returned from the clinic with her prosthetic arm, she jumped on a bicycle in the Jordanian refugee camp, where she lives and drove for the first time since a missile strike in Gaza took her arm a year ago.
Sidra was wounded while protecting himself at Naseirat School, one of several Gaza schools converted to provisional refugees from Israeli strikes.
Her mother, Sabreen Al Bordeeni, said Gaza’s collapsed healthcare and the family’s inability to leave at that time made it impossible to save the hand.
“She plays out, and all her friends and siblings are fascinated by her arm,” Alt Bordeeni said on the phone, repeatingly thanking God for this day. “I can’t express how grateful I am to see my daughter happy.”
The arm was built over 4,000 kilometers away in Karachi by Bioniks, a Pakistani company that uses a smartphone app to take pictures from different angles and create a 3D model for custom prosetics.
CEO Anas Niaz said the social business start had taken care of more than 1,000 specially designed arms inside Pakistan since 2021 – funded through a mixture of patient payments, business sponsorship and donations – but this was the first time that provided prosthetics to those affected in conflict.
Sidra and three -year -old Habbat Allah, who lost both his arms and a leg in Gaza, reviewed days of remote consultations and virtual fittings. Then Niaz flew from Karachi to Amman to meet the girls and make his company’s first overseas delivery.
Sidra’s unit was funded by Mafaz Clinic in Amman, while donations from Pakistanis paid for Habebats. Mafaz CEO Entesar Asaker said the clinic was working with Bioniks for its low costs, remote solutions and ability to troubleshoot practically.
