When Sanjaya Rokaya was born in the mountains of Mugu in early October 2018, his right leg was deformed. For the parents, a world collapsed. In the remote mountain region, they had no access to medical help and the shamans waved them off, certain that they could not heal the boy. While he was still small, he could crawl and his parents could carry him, but what would happen to him later? Because especially in the mountainous regions of Nepal, a disability means that people can neither lead a normal life nor receive the support they urgently need. The Rokayas are poor, living with 8 people under a simple roof and barely making ends meet on Shreelal’s small income as an office worker for the village community and the small harvest from the cultivated field. What followed is one of the many beautiful back to life stories we are happy to share with you.
Standing on your own two feet:
this is the goal
We met the rokaya family at one of our health camps. After the examination, when the doctors told the parents Aamkali and Shreelal that their son could learn to walk with the help of a prosthesis, they did not want to believe it at first. We decided to help the child and thus the whole family. In Kathmandu, Sanjaya was to receive a prosthesis and Back to Life agreed to cover the costs incurred. We have already cooperated with the hospital specializing in this area on several occasions. In March of this year, Sanjaya’s father brought the boy to the capital. Our colleague Dil Subba received them and accompanied them over the coming months. At the hospital, the attending physicians found that the right lower limb was already 17 cm shorter than the left leg and severely deformed. They prescribed intensive physical therapy for the toddler for 8-12 weeks.
Dil made sure that the boy could complete his daily program. He supported Sanjaya with so much care that the boy mastered significant progress and never lost the incentive. After two months, the prosthesis could finally be fitted. Sanjaya’s joy about this remains unforgotten to us all, when he made his first walking attempts with it in May. He diligently practiced walking, his gait became more confident and balanced day by day. When the father said goodbye to Dil on the way back to Mugu, he had tears of relief in his eyes. Just like us, he is sure that Sanjaya now has an easier road ahead of him. We will gladly continue to accompany him in this process.
