Patient Stories

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The Story of A  

                         and a report of wheelchair delivery in Palawan

Recently the British Palawan Trust has been delivering wheelchairs.   We were given six brand new wheelchairs by The Mormons (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) and this gave the opportunity for Soc and Cecile to deliver them using the Ford Everest donated by an oil company.   This vehicle has allowed them to travel to remote parts of the island even though the roads were made difficult by the rains.   The PWDs (People With Disability) had been identified on previous Outreach Clinic visits.

            Typical Palawan road                           Ford with the new wheelchairs

One girl, who I shall call A, well illustrates the problems and successes of our work.  I had visited (in the Ford Everest) this girl on one of my trips to Palawan.  She had suffered from quite severe Polio which had paralysed both her legs.  She was confined to the house, remember that in Palawan the living area is raise up to keep cool, and could only sit on the floor.

A and her mother outside old house                            A indoors and upstairs

            With her old wheelchair

A had never been to school but was keen to learn even though she was now 27 years old.  Cecile therefore arranged for her to receive distance learning material supervised by a local member of the Board of Directors of Bahatala Inc (See web site for explanation).   She quickly learned to read and write and even copied out a dictionary she had been lent so that she could look up words in newspapers and on packaging material.    She is planning to take some proficiency exams, first for primary level on Nov 19 2006, and another in January 2007 (high school level).   We wish her "Good Luck"

In addition we helped her family build her living accommodation on the ground floor so that she could be independent.   She then started a business weaving material for mats and bags. We had supplied her with a locally made wheelchair but it had become rather battered and she needed a better one and a spare.

                              A weaving                                                            A in new wheelchair

                                                                       With the village carpenter, himself disabled, 

                                                                                        who is helping build her house

This is a typical story of the people with disability who are helped by the donors and supporters of the British Palawan Trust. 

Louis Deliss

Chairman British Palawan Trust

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The Story of C

C was admitted following an horrific accident with a generator.   Re-implantation is not an option in Palawan.

To preserve the length of the stump the plastic surgical technique of tissue expansion using traction was used.

This allowed for closure with excellent skin cover.

C with his first temporary prosthesis.

 C walking with his final prosthesis less than three months after his injury.  He has now returned home and to school.

The prostheses were all made in the British Palawan Trust Prosthetic workshop by Romy.  C will return at regular intervals for Romy to make new legs as he grows.

Here is C collecting a new leg in December 2006.

This is a typical story of the people with Orthopaedic injuries who are helped by the donors and supporters of the British Palawan Trust.