This was the case for one Tibetan man whose identity we will protect, but who we will refer to as Dawa. From a young age Dawa had suffered from this deformity, unable to walk properly, but also unable to afford the attention required to correct the problem. As he aged the issue only became more of an impediment for him. His entire left foot was slanted outward into a position which forced him to walk on the side of his foot or barely use it at all.
Dawa, who is 19-years-old, recalls five years ago when he saw a girl who had a similar deformity have a very successful corrective surgery at the Red Cross hospital in Xi’an. This sparked the idea that he too could be cured of his ailment.
“My dream is to be able to walk like a normal person, and after walking I’d like to be able to wrestle,” explained Dawa.
After 5 years, Dawa and his family successfully raised the funds required to correct his club foot, and the family traveled all the way to the Xi’an Red Cross Hospital, where Dr. Liang Xiaojun performed comprehensive medical analysis and tests. Unfortunately the deformity was worse than even Dawa had imagined, as the deformed foot also led to hip dysplasia and subluxation.
“Because the condition was left untreated for so many years, his left leg was 5cm shorter than his right,” explained Dr. Xiaojun.
Typically this would require two separate surgeries, one which would lengthen the leg, and the other which would straighten the foot, but Dr. Xiaojun knew that the family
In comes 3D printing and its ability to replicate near-exact 1:1 physical models of a patient’s problem area, which in this case was Dawa’s left foot. This allowed the surgeons to practice the procedure as well as examine the foot in further detail prior to the complicated surgery.
After much anticipation on the part of Dawa as well as the surgeons, the procedure was a perfect success, and Dawa, who required an extensive six months for recovery, is now finally walking like any other healthy individual. Thanks to a caring family, a surgeon who was able to put finances on the back burner, and the incredible technologies behind 3D printing, Dawa has achieved his dream.
[Images: hsw.cn]