Walking Again Project (EN)
All our projects completed to date, as well as those currently in progress, have been made possible thanks to funds from individual private donations and through the many initiatives that Find The Cure has promoted over the years and continues to promote.
Five years of collaboration between Find The Cure and IGOT/UCSF to strengthen reconstructive surgery, train specialists, and provide prosthetic limbs to those facing amputation.
A Collaboration to Save Limbs
Over the past five years, Find The Cure has collaborated with IGOT (Institute for Global Orthopaedics and Traumatology), a non-profit initiative of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF).
Objective:
To strengthen reconstructive surgical capacity in resource-limited settings (Kenya) through SMART – Surgical Management and Reconstructive Training courses.
Context and Impact
Among the beneficiaries, the Samburu County Referral Hospital has significantly improved the quality of reconstructive surgical care for the community, moving from amputation as the only option to limb salvage procedures.
Approach
- Hands-on training and clinical mentoring
- Standardization of reconstructive surgery protocols
- Access to free orthopedic implants
When Amputation Is Inevitable
Despite this major effort—enhancing surgical skills and establishing a system for free orthopedic implants—a percentage of patients still face inevitable amputation. The most common causes include severe trauma from high-energy gunshot wounds or chronic osteomyelitis, often due to long delays in accessing appropriate care.
One Key Data
A study supported by IGOT at the Muhimbili Orthopaedic Institute in Dar Es Salaam estimates that about 11% of patients with severe limb injuries undergo amputation – roughly 1 in 10.
Barriers to Access
- Cost of prostheses: the main obstacle
- Lack of government support for patients
The consequences of this lack of access are profound. Many patients, despite remarkable resilience, are forced to accept their disability and reinvent their daily lives without a limb. The loss of autonomy often leaves them completely dependent on family support and excluded from even basic work activities, with a serious economic and psychological impact.
“An artificial limb represents a turning point in the life of an amputee.”
One of the objectives of the study was to assess the quality of life of amputees after receiving a prosthesis, and the results clearly showed how transformative this can be: a prosthesis restores independence, confidence, and the possibility to return to work and to a full life.
Walking Again Project
As part of our commitment to high-quality reconstructive surgery, we have chosen to extend our work to include amputees, often forgotten by healthcare systems. We want to ensure that, when amputation is unavoidable, every patient can count on a real opportunity to receive a prosthetic limb.
For those facing such a difficult operation, knowing from the beginning that they will be able to regain mobility and independence changes everything – allowing them to see amputation not as an end, but as the beginning of a new possible life.
Objectives:
- Raise public awareness about the issue of amputations
- Create a dedicated fund to provide customized prosthetic limbs for those who cannot afford them
- Ensure that every patient is offered the concrete prospect of a prosthesis from the start of their surgical journey
How to Help
With access to a proper prosthesis, even an amputation can become the start of a new life.
Transtibial prosthesis:
700 euros
Transfemoral prosthesis:
1,000 euros
Awaiting Support / In attesa di supporto
Eruan Lokitari
Transfemoral Prostheses
Joseph Lenanyokie
24 years old
Transtibial Prosthesis
Peter Lokope
17 years old
Transfemoral Prosthesis
Donations from Italy
IBAN:
IT19I0501801400000011233798
Donations from Abroad
BIC/SWIFT:
ETICIT22XXX
Account Holder: Find The Cure Italia ODV
Registered Office:
Piazza Della Libertà 8, 17055 Toirano, SV, IT
Thank you to everyone who supports us in sustaining orthopedic care and rehabilitation programs for the people of Samburu County.
Funded Cases / Pazienti supportati
👤 Roser Chepkoech Boiwo • ✓ Transfemoral Prostheses
📅 71 anni • 📍 Lesidai • Caso sostenuto da ❤️ Dr. L. Spreafico
👤 Loisherua Letipila • ✓ Transtibial Prosthesis
📅 16 anni • 📍 South Horr • Caso sostenuto da ❤️ PG Asti
Partner
Institute for Global Orthopaedics & Traumatology (IGOT)
Healing Bones, Mending Lives. Empowering through Education.
Referenti
Daniele Sciuto, MD, MPH
Samburu County Referral Hospital · Find The Cure
David Shearer, MD, MPH
University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) · IGOT – Institute for Global Orthopaedics and Traumatology