16 Nov

Patricia Kwarm's Story

Patricia Kwarm's Story Patricia Kwarm's Story Patricia Kwarm's Story Patricia Kwarm's Story
 

The Story
February 1st 2016 was meant to be another regular day for Patricia, a home-carer in London. But, as she was walking to a client’s home, a driver who was later convicted for dangerous driving, flew over the curb and hit her at high speed before fleeing the scene.

Her husband, Pastor Obed recalls the day, “When I arrived at the hospital, I was told my wife was  going to have an above knee amputation of her right leg and that the other leg was also seriously damaged. I was in shock. She had gone to work like any other day and was hit by a car.”

The nature of Patricia’s accident meant she could obtain funding for her treatment through a litigation case, and with the support of her solicitors at Slater and Gordon and fellow amputee, Aderonke, her journey with The London Prosthetic Centre began.
 

The Solution
Patricia was referred to The London Prosthetic Centre by her case manager for an initial assessment. At this time, she believed she would be confined to a wheelchair for the rest of her life, but she was soon assured by her prosthetist, Abdo Haidar, that she would in fact walk again.

Patricia said “You come out of hospital after being told you’re going to be completely confined to a wheelchair, and then you meet another person with another opinion. It gives you hope. It gave us something to hold on to. From that day, my mentality changed.”

Following the assessment, recommendations were made for Patricia to be fitted with different prosthetics to help her regain her independence and return to some of the activities she used to enjoy. Patricia was highly motivated and dedicated large amounts of her time to rehabilitation. She regularly attended The London Prosthetic Centre for her prosthetic and therapy appointments.

She commented, “Anytime we went to the clinic, it was like seeing family. We got to meet other amputees who were so full of life - so cheerful! Everyone gave me so much hope and encouragement.”

It was this, combined with the support of prosthetist Abdo, the rehabilitation team and her husband Obed, that lead to Patricia’s remarkable recovery.
Patricia learnt to do the basics again like walking unaided around the house, managing her personal hygiene and care, doing the laundry and cooking home meals by herself.

Aside from being independent in her daily tasks, Patricia also expressed her wish to look ordinary following the injuries and amputation she sustained. The Steeper Custom Silicone team worked closely with Patricia to create silicone covers for her prosthesis and for the scarring on her left leg. Using exclusive Spectromatch skin colour matching technology, they achieved an incredible result leaving Patricia feeling confident!
 

The Turning Point
With Patricia’s new-found confidence in walking, her and Obed made the decision to travel back to their home country, Ghana, to visit family and friends they hadn’t seen since the accident.

“They were all waiting to see me. They were expecting me to be hopping around on one leg or maybe sitting in a wheelchair and being pushed around. They were amazed to see I was walking, it was the first time they’d seen this kind of technology. It became a sort of attraction.”

After seeing other amputees around Ghana with no medical devices and walking aids, the couple felt compelled to help and support them in any way they could. They knew they couldn’t provide prosthetic devices to everyone who needed one, but using the compensation from the legal case they donated wheelchairs to Legs4Africa, helping to make a difference to the lives of amputees around Africa.

Patricia is now completing her daily activities with confidence and gives a lot of her time to her local church. Obed says, “When I saw Patricia behind the pulpit preaching, standing, without crutches, I looked up at her and said thank you God. Thank you The London Prosthetic Centre, thank you Abdo. Standing there, you wouldn't even know that she's an amputee. It was so encouraging. This encouragement is felt by our church members too. They were there from the beginning of her rehabilitation journey and when they see her now, they are so impressed.”

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