Prosthesis that give back hope

He was 17 when a car accident left him without his right leg.Walter Aguilar Turcios thought his life was over, that he would never be able to fulfil his dream of becoming a father. But that was not the case.Now married and the father of a child, he is the guardian angel of many who, like him, have lost a limb. The 31-year-old Honduran is orthoprosthesist at the Centro Protésico Vida Nueva (Prosthetic New Life Center), located in the city of Choluteca in southern Honduras. 

Walter builds with love and dedication polypropylene prostheses and orthotics at the centre, where five people work. Each piece is unique and Walter tries to make them look as human as possible. "Every time I make a prosthesis, I think how this plastic leg or arm will change the life of the person who will receive it, just like it changed mine."

The organisation, founded in 2003 to aid anti-personnel minevictims, has expanded its services to migrants wholost limbs while attempting to enter the United States illegally and to people suffering from diabetes.

In Honduras, there are over 850 000 people with disabilities.Prostheses are priced at between 10,000 and 14,000 lempiras each, i.e. US$500 to 700. But they are free for those who cannot pay.

The writer is a journalist of EL HERALDO, Honduras and can be contacted at francis.mercado@elheraldo.hn