Boy happy he can walk again

 A TEENAGED boy whose right leg was smashed during a road accident two years ago is able to walk again – thanks to a new medical equipment.

The Modilon General Hospital in Madang was given the new orthopaedic equipment called the Ilizarov Fixator by the Society of Divine Word Missionaries in Poland.

It was requested by the doctor in charge of the Modilon orthopaedic unit, Professor Jerzy Kuzma, a missionary for the society.

The equipment costs K50,000.

Kuzma treated Haule Jigme, 15, from Angoram, in East Sepik, who was involved in a road accident on April 14, 2012.

“I had no bones in my right leg. Doctors removed my fractured bones and I was without bones,” Jigme said.

He has been using crutches to support himself while hopping on his left leg.

Kuzma recently added one of the bones from Jigme’s left leg to the right leg using the aid of the life-support equipment.

“Jigme is ready to go back to school after leaving Grade Five two years ago and this time he will walk without crutches,” Kuzma said.

Kuzma said the Russian-made device, technically called the Ilizarov External Fixator, arrived in the county late last year and it has been life saving equipment for patients with limb abnormality.