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.
A technician controls a prosthetic limb on Bioniks, in Karachi, April 29, 2024. – Reuters
“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.
Niaz said each prosthetic arm costs about $ 2,500, significantly less than $ 10,000 to $ 20,000 for alternatives made in the United States.
A technician works on computers with prosthetic limb diagram at Bioniks in Karachi, April 29, 2024. – Reuters
While Bioniks’ arms are less sophisticated than American versions, they provide a high level of functionality for children, and their remote process makes them more accessible than opportunities from other countries such as Turkey and South Korea.
“We plan to deliver limbs to people in other conflict zones, such as Ukraine, and become a global company,” Niaz said.
Globally, most advanced prosthetics are designed for adults and rarely reaches children in war zones who need lighter limbs and replacements every 12-18. Month when they grow.
Niaz said they explored financing options for Sidra and Habebat’s future replacements, adding that costs would not be too high.
A technician works on computers with prosthetic limb diagram at Bioniks in Karachi, April 29, 2024. – Reuters
“Only a few components had to be changed,” he said, “the rest can be recycled to help another child.”
Bionik’s occasionally incorporates popular fictional characters in his children’s prosthetics such as Marvel’s Iron Man or Disney Elsa, a feature that Niaz said helps with emotional acceptance and daily use.
A technician controls a prosthetic limb at Bioniks in Karachi, April 29, 2024. – Reuters
‘Finally hug my dad’
Gaza now has about 4,500 new amputates, at the top of 2,000 existing cases from before the war, many of them children, making it one of the highest child policy crises per year. Per capita in the latest history, the UN Humanitarian Agency Ocha said in March.
An April survey of the Palestinian Bureau of Statistics found that at least 7,000 children have been wounded since Israeli War in Gaza began in October 2023. Local health authorities say more than 50,000 Palestinians have been killed, almost a third of them children.
The World Health Organization has said that Gaza’s health system is “on the knees” with Israel’s border ending, which dries critical supplies, which means that the wounded cannot access specialized care, especially in the middle of waves of wounded patients.
“Where it is almost impossible for healthcare professionals and patients to meet, bridges Remote treatment a critical hole, make assessments, fittings and follow -up without travel or specialized centers,” said Asadullah Khan, clinic manager at Proactive Protetical in Leeds, UK, which provides artificial limbs and support for trauma patients.
Bioniks hope to pioneer such a large scale solutions, but funding is still a roadblock and the company is still trying to form viable partnerships.
Sidra still adapts to her new hand, where she now wears a small bracelet. For much of the past year, when she wanted to make a heart, a simple gesture using both hands, she would ask another to end it. This time she formed the form herself, cracked a photo and sent it to her father, still caught in Gaza.
“What I look forward to most is using both of my arms to finally hug my dad when I see him,” she said.
