From Wheelchair to Walking: Patient Leaves Center on Foot

63-year-old diabetic patient Vedi Mengüllüoğlu, whose legs were amputated, started walking again thanks to prosthetics designed by doctors at the Hatay Disabled Social Entrepreneurship Center.

63-year-old truck driver Mengüllüoğlu, who was battling diabetes, had gone to Russia to work 8 years ago. His truck broke down near Siberia, leaving him stranded in cold weather. This led to the amputation of his gangrenous right leg from the knee, and Mengüllüoğlu began using a wheelchair.

As the disease progressed, Mengüllüoğlu's left leg was also amputated below the knee 2 years ago. He applied to the Hatay Disabled Social Entrepreneurship Center with the hope of walking again. Doctors at the center, established on the Hatay Mustafa Kemal University campus in cooperation with the Hatay Governorship and the Foundation for Physically Disabled, designed special prosthetics for Mengüllüoğlu.

Thanks to the prosthetics fitted through surgery, Mengüllüoğlu experienced the joy of standing on his feet again after 8 years.

Vedi Mengüllüoğlu stated that he underwent physiotherapy at the center to get used to his prosthetics. Mengüllüoğlu, who noted that his life has become easier, expressed his feelings with the words, "The past was dark for me. Two people used to take me to and from the restroom. Thanks to our President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the Foundation for Physically Disabled, and our esteemed Governor, I received my prosthetics. May God bless them, I am on my feet thanks to them." Mengüllüoğlu noted that he was freed from using a wheelchair.

Yağmur Durmaz, an orthopedic technician at the Disabled Social Entrepreneurship Center, stated that Mengüllüoğlu, who came to the center in a wheelchair, returned home walking. Durmaz said, "When we first delivered his prosthetics, our patient's smile as he stood up and walked made us all very happy. We gave him walking training at the center, and he recovered and stood up in a very short time."