A victory over despair
“I should never have gotten on that bus,” says Mery from Juliaca, sadly recalling a bus trip ten years ago. She was on a bus with about 50 other passengers. And since she had found a seat at the very front on the passenger side, she enjoyed the unobstructed view of the landscape. She will never forget what suddenly happened to her horror. The bus crashed head-on into a truck. They were seconds that changed Mery’s life forever. Both of her lower legs were crushed off. At a nearby clinic, surgeons tried to save what could be saved. But amputation of both legs below the knees unfortunately remained unavoidable.
Ten difficult years followed without any care. Outside the house, she moved forward on the stumps. Unfortunately, the conditions of her home environment were not suitable for a wheelchair. Grief, depression, and the eternal question, “Why did I ever get on that bus back then?”
A tip from acquaintance gave her hope. She made the long journey to Curahuasi on June 6 to the Orthopedic Center at Mission Hospital….
The findings were a real challenge for Christian Haupt, master orthopedic technician, and his colleague Daniel Müller. The result of her work brought Mery back to two legs the day before yesterday. After a decade, she can meet her fellow human beings at eye level.
Tomorrow Peru celebrates the National Day, an absolute highlight in the country’s annual calendar. Mery will see him with shining eyes. Christian Haupt writes: “She has such strong confidence in her prostheses as we have rarely seen in such difficult cases. We prayed together as a farewell. Now a new stage of life full of hope begins for Mery!” (Text and pictures published with permission of the patient)
