With one leg, crutches and wheelchairs... Yemeni wounded in the streets of Cairo
English - Monday 31 October 2022 الساعة 09:10 am
Cairo, NewsYemen, private:
War is a single dangerous one, and the worst is that it is a feasible idea, with its different contexts that have claimed hundreds of individuals to be disabled over the past eight years, some permanent and others partial.
Dozens of reports ranked the conflict in Yemen as the worst among all conflicts, as it cast a shadow over almost everything, including the psychological state of individuals.
Ahmed is wounded on the fronts of Ma’rib. He leans on crutches while moving inside the residence or on the street. His right leg is full of plates and nails like a building scaffold, which appears heavy when carried like a torn homeland and grudges ravaged by its soil.
He is one of dozens of wounded people who are roaming the streets of Cairo, specifically the Faisal area and its environs, the Dokki and Manial areas, in front of money exchange shops, at the doors of restaurants, some public parks, and doctors' clinics.
The wounded are concentrated in many areas, but the 20th Street, the "Faisal" area, is the most embraced by them from the north and south, and without appointments, you will meet many of them.
The proverb says, "When you see someone else's misfortune, your misfortune will be easier for you." Ahmed is much better than others. He still keeps a healthy leg, and this is from his point of view a great gain that came out of his battle with the militia and its hideous tools.
His companion says, there are wounded without legs, some of them are completely paralyzed as a result of a spinal cord injury, and others have completely lost their vision, and some of them have lost part of it.
Houthi snipers' bullets, mines, explosive devices, shells and drones all stand behind the daily obstruction of thousands of Yemenis, fighters or civilians who have nothing to do with this war.
Difficulty moving
Many of the wounded are paraplegic and some are immobile in the lower and upper extremities, and they are the most affected. They find it difficult to get around and go to the doctors, they are forced to abandon the carts for some time and take taxis.
The escorts find it very difficult to deal with the patient inside the housing and even outside it. They are forced to play the role of mother just as you do with a small child.
One of the escorts says I am doing my duty to the fullest. The wounded is my brother, and I must take into account his condition, injury and psychological state, as you are facing a disability that may be permanent.
critical cases
The type of injury varies from one wounded person to another, as if there is a strange role-sharing. Most injuries are in the legs and forearms.
There are those who have lost their sight completely, and this is treated by extracting the shrapnel and making the necessary from artificial eyes or only black glasses. And there are those who still need some medications and injections, which are expensive in order to maintain what is left of the glimmer.
The injury to the legs is so severe that the injured loses his legs, and if he is treated early, the arteries and veins can be restored and the necessary plates and nails should be made. The same situation is with the injury of the forearms, unless the alternative is “amputation” and this acts as a psychological shock to many before they get used to it and accept the situation.
Dozens of artificial joints
During the war, which was nearly ten years old, hundreds of wounded people arrived in Cairo who needed joint replacement in separate areas.
One of the delegates says that there are no accurate statistics on the number of artificial joints that have been made for the wounded during the past years, but they are very many and vary according to the location and quality of the joint.
He added that the minimum joint replacement process starts from six thousand dollars to twelve thousand and more, unlike the treatments and the rest of the requirements needed during the treatment period, and there are those who need three or two joints, and perhaps more, depending on the injury.
