inMotion Magazine

November | December 2019 10 My name is Wafa Lavelle, and this is my story. I was born in the Middle East, in the country of Jordan, in 1960. When my mom was pregnant with me, she became sick and had to take some medication. Nothing was known at the time about the medication’s side effects on pregnancy, and I was born with birth defects which included two club feet, legs that were bent to my thighs, and hip dysplasia. All of this left me unable to walk, and I was crawling until I turned seven years old. My grandfather believed in the natural ways of home remedy healing and he was very talented in his own way. If someone broke their arm or leg, he could reset it and wrap it up for healing. My grandfather could not deal with seeing me crawling anymore, so he decided to do some work on my legs. He boiled water to a full steam then he held me above the steaming, boiling water and covered my legs. He kept me there for a while till my legs were very red and my muscles were loosened. He then took one leg at a time and broke them and reset the bones in each leg. I passed out for a few hours, and when I awoke, he then rubbed both my legs with all kinds of herbs and oil and placed pieces of wood on each side of both legs and wrapped them up. My grandfather continued to massage my legs with herbs and oil and wrap them straight every hour of every day for fifty days. On the fifty-first day, I stood up for the first time. My family was full of joy on the next day as they watched me take my first steps. Following that I walked with my club feet deformity and hip disability. I started school for the first time when I was eight years old. This was very difficult for me as I experienced many obstacles. The environment was not accessible, and I could not keep up with the other kids. Unfortunately, some of the children were not nice and I also experienced bullying. At the age of thirteen, I came to United States and had my first surgery on my feet. To correct my foot position and make heels, pins and screws were placed in my feet. I could not walk on them for two years. After the foot surgery, I had a leg-lengthening procedure, which required me to be in a spiker cast, from my chest to my feet. This process took an additional two years without walking. After these procedures my legs were very stiff, and I was not able to bend them very much. Since then, I have had an additional sixty-one surgeries due to various issues with my legs. When I was seventeen years old, I stepped on a nail which resulted in bone and blood stream infections and caused me to lose my right foot. Not only was this extremely painful, but it was also very traumatic. At that time, I was devastated. I didn’t believe there was life after losing a limb. After several months, I pulled myself together and realized that I was a strong person and that there was a life out there to live after losing a limb. I finished my education, started working as a hairdresser, got married, had two children, and raised them. I had a normal life as an amputee with my other challenges. I had some difficulties with my prosthesis. The foot on my Who is your amputee hero, and why? Whether they’re an amputee or not, the special person who inspires you to live well with limb loss can be a relative, a friend or someone you’ve never met. We invite you to send us an article (250 to 350 words) for consideration to be included in  inMotion. Email articles to: editor@amputee-coalition.org BEING INFORMED amputee hero By Wafa Lavelle CHANGED MY LIFE