04:16Salah Helmi, an occupational therapist, has been making prosthetics in Deir al-Balah using simple, easily accessible materials such as drainage pipes, wood and cotton for people who have lost their limbs amid the fighting in Gaza.
Footage captured on Saturday shows Helmi fashioning the makeshift limbs in a tent. Amputees are later seen walking on the prosthetics.
"I had been injured during the early days of the war. Back then, medical equipment and capabilities were in short supply and difficult to obtain," a local man said. "An initiative by a youth group providing artificial limbs had gone viral on social media, so I contacted them to be provided with an artificial limb."
"My sole dream was to get a prosthetic leg or to have my leg back because I long to walk again," he added.
According to Helmi, the initiative was a response to a 'disruption of prosthetic services' at hospitals in war-torn Gaza, a situation exacerbated by the number of casualties amid the ongoing Israeli bombardment of the besieged Palestinian enclave.
"The materials we currently use are drainage pipes and wood to be attached to the knee from below as well as cotton and socks to change the shape," he explained.
"We install zips above the knee to fix and move the joint. This process takes one to three days according to the available materials in the markets," the therapist continued.
Fighting erupted in Gaza after Hamas launched an attack on southern Israel on October 7, killing 1,139 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping over 200 and holding them captive in Gaza. In the enclave, the Israeli military conducted a large-scale campaign of air strikes and ground incursions, killing at least 39,175 Palestinians and injuring more than 90,403 injured at the time of publication.
'I long to walk again' - Physiotherapist provides amputees with prosthetics made from drainage pipes in central Gaza
Salah Helmi, an occupational therapist, has been making prosthetics in Deir al-Balah using simple, easily accessible materials such as drainage pipes, wood and cotton for people who have lost their limbs amid the fighting in Gaza.
Footage captured on Saturday shows Helmi fashioning the makeshift limbs in a tent. Amputees are later seen walking on the prosthetics.
"I had been injured during the early days of the war. Back then, medical equipment and capabilities were in short supply and difficult to obtain," a local man said. "An initiative by a youth group providing artificial limbs had gone viral on social media, so I contacted them to be provided with an artificial limb."
"My sole dream was to get a prosthetic leg or to have my leg back because I long to walk again," he added.
According to Helmi, the initiative was a response to a 'disruption of prosthetic services' at hospitals in war-torn Gaza, a situation exacerbated by the number of casualties amid the ongoing Israeli bombardment of the besieged Palestinian enclave.
"The materials we currently use are drainage pipes and wood to be attached to the knee from below as well as cotton and socks to change the shape," he explained.
"We install zips above the knee to fix and move the joint. This process takes one to three days according to the available materials in the markets," the therapist continued.
Fighting erupted in Gaza after Hamas launched an attack on southern Israel on October 7, killing 1,139 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping over 200 and holding them captive in Gaza. In the enclave, the Israeli military conducted a large-scale campaign of air strikes and ground incursions, killing at least 39,175 Palestinians and injuring more than 90,403 injured at the time of publication.
Salah Helmi, an occupational therapist, has been making prosthetics in Deir al-Balah using simple, easily accessible materials such as drainage pipes, wood and cotton for people who have lost their limbs amid the fighting in Gaza.
Footage captured on Saturday shows Helmi fashioning the makeshift limbs in a tent. Amputees are later seen walking on the prosthetics.
"I had been injured during the early days of the war. Back then, medical equipment and capabilities were in short supply and difficult to obtain," a local man said. "An initiative by a youth group providing artificial limbs had gone viral on social media, so I contacted them to be provided with an artificial limb."
"My sole dream was to get a prosthetic leg or to have my leg back because I long to walk again," he added.
According to Helmi, the initiative was a response to a 'disruption of prosthetic services' at hospitals in war-torn Gaza, a situation exacerbated by the number of casualties amid the ongoing Israeli bombardment of the besieged Palestinian enclave.
"The materials we currently use are drainage pipes and wood to be attached to the knee from below as well as cotton and socks to change the shape," he explained.
"We install zips above the knee to fix and move the joint. This process takes one to three days according to the available materials in the markets," the therapist continued.
Fighting erupted in Gaza after Hamas launched an attack on southern Israel on October 7, killing 1,139 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping over 200 and holding them captive in Gaza. In the enclave, the Israeli military conducted a large-scale campaign of air strikes and ground incursions, killing at least 39,175 Palestinians and injuring more than 90,403 injured at the time of publication.