Salem Abdulhadil was nine years-old when his foot and lower leg were amputated following a car accident near his home in Ramallah, a Palestinian city in the West Bank.
Salem is now 14 and can walk and even run again thanks to the treatment and prostheses donated by a Brooklyn firm, Arimed Orthotics and Prosthetics.
“We help people who are in need because we can,” said Steven Mirones, president of Arimed. “I can’t help a kid get his eyesight back, but I can help a kid walk again.”
Under the leadership of Mirones, Arimed donated prostheses to victims of the Staten Island Ferry crash in 2003; donated prosthetic legs to Edgar Rivera, whose legs were severed after being shoved in front of an uptown No. 6 train in 1999; donated artificial limbs to victims mutilated in the civil war in Sierra Leone, Africa; and provided both prosthetic and orthotics services to destitute children in Ahmedebad, India, Haiti, and Columbia through the nonprofit A Leg to Stand On. Arimed has twice been recognized by the Brooklyn Borough President for its work with the disabled.
“It’s quite exhilarating to watch Salem walk again,” Mirones said. “You can’t put it into words. To change someone’s life circumstance almost from one moment to the next and give them hope for the future gives you great satisfaction. You look at the smile on Salem’s face and that’s all the payment you want to see.”
Salem arrived in the United States on June 22 and has been living for the past few weeks with his aunt, uncle, and cousins in New Jersey while he was being treated at Arimed.
“He’s very excited and happy about his new leg,” said his uncle Shafer Ajaj. “Now he can walk and play with his cousins in the park.”
Timothy T. Evans, Arimed’s chief operating officer and the certified prosthetist who treated Salem, said, “I was happy to see the sparkle in Salem’s eyes when he started walking again. Everyone else was looking at his leg, but I was looking at his face. Even though Salem doesn’t speak English, there wasn’t a language barrier between us then.”
Salem was referred to Arimed by Dr. Laith Jazrawi, with whom Arimed has had a long relationship. Dr. Jazrawi was contacted by the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund, which has an office in Ramallah and brings medical services to needy children in the Middle East.
“When I was first approached by the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund to help out Salem and his prosthetic need, the first name that came to mind was Mr. Steve Mirones of Arimed,” said Dr. Jazrawi, who is director of the Sports and Shoulder/Elbow Research Lab and assistant professor, NYU School of Medicine, NYU Hospital for Joint Diseases, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery. “Arimed’s outstanding technical expertise in the field of orthotics and prosthetics made them the perfect match for Salem’s challenging prosthetics needs. More importantly, Arimed’s humanitarian efforts continue to impress me and we should all strive to achieve the level of selflessness that Mr. Mirones and Arimed continue to demonstrate. Mr. Mirones I applaud you on your continued charitable efforts and your dedication to helping individuals in need.”
The prostheses was manufactured by one of Arimed’s technicians in the firm’s Brooklyn lab. The foot, which was donated by Freedom Innovations, is a high-end foot that will be able to withstand the demands of an active child.
More about Arimed is available at www.arimed.com.
