Six years ago at his home in war-torn Gaza, Sobhi, at the age of 9, was severely injured when a bomb landed on his family’s farm field where he was helping his parents work. Three days passed before Sobhi awoke to find himself in a hospital with only half a left leg. Weeks passed before he got out of bed and started a new life on crutches.

But in October, in a Federal Way clinic in the Seattle area, the Palestinian teen with a 100-watt smile stood on two feet again, thanks to a team of Seattle area residents who donated their time and money to bring him to Washington and get him a prosthetic leg.

How did it happen?  The Palestine Children’s Relief Fund knew that a group of people in Seatlle had helped raise funds following the attacks.  PCRF asked them to help with Sobhi.  In turn, help was provided by the Preferred Orthotics and Prosthetic Services in Federal Way founded by Fred Cato and Karl Entenmann, both graduates of the University of Washington’s Prosthetic program. Entenmann, a native of Seattle, said he and his team would make the socket to fit over Sobhi’s leg. He then called manufacturers to see if they could donate the other parts for free.

Now Sobhi is going to school in the Seattle area while he receives fittings and physical therapy….and says his prosthetic leg feels just like his real one did.  Kudos to the Seattle volunteers and professional prosthetists for making another “given limb” success story.

This entry was posted on Monday, November 9th, 2009 at 10:06 am and is filed under amputees, Legs, Prosthetic Limb, Rehabilitation, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.