Standing strong: new facility to help Myanmar landmine victims, amputees
She lay and cried in the hospital. The nurses did too. Tin Mya had already had two major amputation operations performed on her toes and foot, which had turned black. And she was about to lose most of her lower leg. The cause of her pain was still a mystery to her; what had started as some numbness in her toe had spread and become infected. The 65-year-old then spent more than two months in hospital – during which time her husband passed away. It was a shocking moment in a challenging life. To receive false limbs, most amputees in northern Myanmar have usually needed to travel to Mandalay – a 20-hour bus ride away. It was yet another daunting prospect. However, since last month, a new state-of the-art facility is open on her doorstep. “I didn’t believe it. That’s why I asked my daughter to have a look and it was true,” she said from her wheelchair inside the expansive new Myitkyina Physical Rehabilitation Centre, the result of a partnership between the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Ministry and Health and Sports.
