Abdelali had always been a hard working family man, whose primary focus in life was providing for his family and he prided himself on always being there for his family. However, following his sudden amputation the roles were reversed. Without the funds to pay for an artificial leg, Abdelali was no longer able to work, and instead of supporting his family, they were now supporting him.
"I felt like a drain upon my family," stated Abdelali. "I usually refuse to go anywhere outside of the home with my daughter because she has her two small children to take care of and I don’t want to be like a third child that she has to attend to," said Abdelali. "If you took a look at your life, how busy are you? If you had to depend on a loved one or friend to help you out with just going to the bathroom, or just taking care of simple things in life, not only has your life changed, but their life as well."
After learning about the charity Limbs of Love, Abdelali's children submitted his story to the organization, in hopes Limbs of Love could provide him with a prosthetic leg. What was unknown to Abdelali's family was that at the time, Limbs of Love was based only in Houston and had never assisted patients outside the Houston vicinity. Limbs of Love founder Joe Sansone found the story so compelling that he reached out to Dallas based Baker Orthotics & Prosthetics for help.
“Gordon Stevens of Baker O&P was immediately receptive to the idea of teaming up with Limbs of Love to give Abdelali his life back,” Sansone stated. “It’s amazing to meet people like Gordon who not only provide prosthetic limbs to patients for a profit, but are also passionate about reaching out to the amputee community.”
Upon receiving the news, Abdelali’s family was in shock. “We didn’t believe it! We were looking forward to him having a leg so he could walk again, it was like a dream come true for all of us!” said his son Rahim.
Abdelali was ecstatic about learning to walk on his new prosthesis. “We would look forward to seeing [staff at Baker O&P], they were really good, really professional people,” stated Rahim.
June 29, 2009 was an extremely emotional day for Abdelali and his entire family when he received his prosthesis—a day his family had prayed would come for so long. “It’s so emotional, we just can’t believe it! It’s amazing, it’s like he has a real leg!” said his son Rahim.
And now, with Abdelali adjusting to life back on his feet, his family struggles continue. However, now their struggle is keeping up with their once sedentary housebound loved one. “I used to always know walking in the front door, there would be my father, sitting in the same old chair, watching the same old TV, because that’s all he ever did. And just yesterday, I came home and was shocked and amazing to see that my father was not there,” stated Rahim. “I was actually quite frightened because this was such a new occurrence. I panicked until I looked through the front window and saw him outside walking in the street, playing with the grandkids. It’s so beautiful and it’s such a blessing, Limbs of Love has changed our lives forever.”
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