A PARAMEDIC from Burnham has told how the charity he works for has helped a young boy in Afghanistan walk again after losing part of his leg in a mine blast.
Nich Woolf has been working with the charity Festival Medical Services (FMS) as a volunteer medical teacher in Mazar Hospital in Afghanistan.
Nich has spent several stints in Afghanistan over the last three years teaching staff and helping to improve the hospital while FMS has donated vital medical supplies and equipment.
And Nich has now spoken of his pride at how the charity has helped 12-year-old Zabi learn to walk again through a relatively simple procedure that was made available thanks to funds raised at Glastonbury Festival last summer.
Zabi, from Northern Afghanistan, lost part of his leg in an explosion when he followed his family’s goats into an unmarked minefield and stepped on an old Russian mine, probably from the 1980s era of occupation.
TWELVE-YEAR-OLD Zabi following his operation.
His father and fellow villagers picked their way through the minefield to reach him and, after using a towel to drag him out, they then travelled with him for eight hours to the nearest hospital.
However they were unable to treat such a severe injury due to a lack of equipment and expertise and so after an emergency blood transfusion from father to son, a taxi took them on to the larger regional hospital in Mazar-i- Sharif 12 hours away.
FMS had previously donated equipment to the hospital and volunteer staff, including Nich, had taught the local staff resuscitation and safe surgery techniques.
The Mazar orthopaedic surgeon found Zabi’s severely injured right lower leg could not be repaired and his upper leg bone was broken in two places.
He put a pin and screws into the upper leg and amputated the rest just above the knee.
The critical metal pins and screws costing just £30 had been paid for by FMS and have given Zabi the chance of being able to walk again.
The wounds will soon have healed sufficiently for a prosthetic leg to be made for Zabi so he can learn to walk again and re-join his friends and school in his village.
FMS trustee and professional paramedic Nich Woolf, from Burnham, said: “I have had the privilege of working as a volunteer medical teacher at Mazar Hospital for several weeks at a time over the past three years.
It makes us all at FMS immensely proud that the skills we have helped to pass on, and the relatively inexpensive equipment we have helped to purchase, can be used to make such a dramatic difference to the lives of innocent Afghan people caught up in the conflict in their country.
In Zabi’s case, the vital metal pieces needed to save his life cost only about £30.
“Festival Medical Services will be at Glastonbury and Reading festivals again this summer and we hope to raise more donations from our grateful patients, so we can continue to deliver life-changing successes like this.”
Patients are not charged for its services, but they often voluntarily make donations to show their appreciation, and FMS pass this on to health charities in the UK and abroad, along with monies from grateful festival organisers.
Donations to FMS can be made via electronic transfer to the FMS account at the Co-Op Bank: Festival Medical Services, Sort Code 089299, Account No 65333165.
Taxpayers can Gift Aid their donation by obtaining a form via admin@festival-medical.org for more details visit festival-medical.org
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