Kurdish man who lost both legs provides hope, prosthetic limbs for thousands facing disability

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Sarko Halabjaiye has transformed a tragedy of his own into a way to help thousands of others who have become disabled by providing advanced physical therapy, prosthetic limbs, and various other assistance to allow them to lead more normal lives through an organization he runs in the Kurdistan Region's province of Halabja.

He lost both of his legs 27 years ago in an automobile accident. After going through the long, hard process of recovery, he was moved to establish Toward a New Life, which, for 12 years, offers therapeutic services to those who have had limbs amputated or otherwise face a significant disability.

“We will give this young girl a specially designed chair for six months to strengthen her leg muscles,” said Halabjaiye, speaking to Kurdistan 24 while he was working with a young child with a lower-body disability. “After that, we will give her a standing chair to enable her to stand up, eventually on her own. Finally, we will give her a walker to help her take steps on her own, but it will require both time and extensive physical therapy along the way.”

Although it is clear that he is extremely driven and serious about his responsibilities to those he tries to help, he suddenly smiles broadly, saying, “Another child brought back a walker that we had given her because she was able to walk on her own at last. This gives you a feeling of extreme joy and the motivation to continue doing this work, especially for the children.”

People from all over the Kurdistan Region visit Sarko so that his organization can design a therapeutic action plan catered specifically to them, provide equipment that is often very costly, and spend the time to properly teach them and their families to properly incorporate them into their everyday lives.

“So far we were able to help almost 5,000 children with special needs and have distributed more than 5,062 items of special care equipment including wheelchairs, special chairs, walkers, and other things to meet their daily needs,” Halabjaiye continued, explaining that “people from all over Iraq and the Kurdistan Region visit us to attain the help they need.”

The organization provides a comfortable atmosphere for those it serves.

One another case, he brings some other children to a soccer field six months after they were fitted with prosthetic limbs to make sure they, and other equipment, properly suit them, and to ensure that they are progressing as expected.

“Aside from making sure that the prosthetic limbs fitted especially for them, I also try to teach them and prepare them for common challenges and difficulties, to ascertain whether they need adjustments or better moulds to make sure we are providing the best service for them,” he added, and then returned to the children to whom he is so clearly dedicated. 

Editing by John J. Catherine