Presenting... Chan Chea standing proudly in her new splints!!! Last Wednesday 1st September, Chan Chea was fitted with her new Ankle-Foot orthoses (AFOs) at Cambodia Trust(CT) in Phnom Penh. We did a follow up visit to her home on Monday 6th. Chan Chea loves the splints, much more than the casts. As you can see from the photos, however, the splints don't hold her in quite the same rigid position, but have the added benefit of being able to take them off, and being lighter, and cooler. Her fore foot was significantly riding up at the front of the splints, and so we decided to take her back to CT today to have an extra strap added to control the foot better.
So today.... what a day!
With support, Chan Chea walked the length of CT's parallel bars, approximately 10 metres! What a feat for this girl, she's been working so hard at getting stronger, and so wants to be able to walk out in her village and visit people.
Time for a quick rest, very tiring work!
And back to it again
Whoops! 'Chor trong', Chan Chea, 'stand straight'!
Compared with the beginning of the walking session, the support required to assist her reduced significantly. She still lacks confidence, but it is improving all the time.
Given the negative attitude so commonly associated with disability here, it's been amazing to see the support Chan Chea has from so many different family members, each one doing all that they can for her. Today, we met her uncle for the first time. It's great when we observed Mum and her Uncle each providing instructions and learning techniques from Sokny (physio). In the early days, Mum was just continually, and understandably, holding Chan Chea close, reluctant to push her. Now, she's helping to teach her to walk.
Fantastic -- this is amazing, from helpless to walking in such a short amount of time.
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