Disabled Syrian girl to get gift of walking in Turkey

By Mucahit Turetken

ISTANBUL (AA) – With help from Turkey, a young Syrian girl may finally achieve her fondest desire, something most of us take for granted: the ability to walk.

Maya, 8 years old and a war refugee in Istanbul, after fleeing Aleppo, Syria, lacks working legs due a congenital condition.

Her father, who suffers from the same condition, fashioned short makeshift legs from the only materials available, cans and plastic, giving Maya the only mobility she has ever known.

But the girl is clear about what she really wants: "I have one dream, and that is to walk."

She is now in Istanbul, Turkey with the hope of just doing just that. Dr. Mehmet Zeki Culcu, a professional prosthetist who learned of her plight from social media, stepped up to do her treatment after the Turkish Red Crescent brought the father and daughter to Turkey.

Muhammed el Meri, Maya’s father, told Anadolu Agency that they will get prosthetics in Turkey, and expressed his deep thanks to the Turkish government and especially to the Red Crescent.

“Doctors said she was born with a disability, and amputated her legs beneath her knee,” el Meri said of Maya, explaining that he can’t bear to see her confined to the house so often.

“My daughter is always suffering, because her leg is always getting hit by stones, and she also sometimes gets stuck in the mud,” added her mother, Rabia Meri.

“She’s not playing like her friends, and she has to go to school, so [getting a] prosthesis now is crucial.”

After Anadolu Agency reported on the plight of her family, the Turkish Red Crescent brought them to Turkey, and soon the father and daughter should both be able to walk with the help of prosthetic limbs.

Syria has been locked in a vicious civil war since early 2011, when the Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests with unexpected ferocity.

Hundreds of thousands of civilians have been killed or displaced in the conflict mainly by regime airstrikes targeting opposition-held areas.