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One Step at a Time |
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By MARK STAMEY and RITA DELFINER |
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| LIMBERING UP: Ibadete Thaqi practices walking with her artificial limbs here yesterday at the Hospital for Special Surgery, with the help of prothesis specialist Glenn Garrison. - NYP: J. Alcorn |
The spunky Kosovo teen whose legs were blown off by a land mine took her first triumphant steps here yesterday on new hydraulic limbs.
"It was like a victory when I stood up for the first time," Ibadete Thaqi, 14, said at the Hospital for Special Surgery, which is donating free medical care and the artificial limbs.
"The dream I have of walking with my friends again is coming true very fast," she said.
Ibadete was maimed last year when she picked up a water bucket that was booby-trapped with a land mine, losing one leg above the knee and the other below.
"I work very hard," she said as she struggled to take steps unassisted. "I exercise my arms and work out now with my new legs. I'm getting very strong."
Her artificial right limb has a hydraulic knee that simulates normal movement.
Meanwhile, two Bosnian teen amputees arrived at Kennedy Airport yesterday, thanks to a Staten Island woman who began helping young land-mine victims three years ago after reading a letter from a 15-year-old Bosnian who lost both arms and a leg.
"There are 4,000 kids that have lost arms and legs in Bosnia," said Elissa Montanti, president of the Global Medical Relief Fund, which has now brought a total of seven young Bosnians here for orthopedic help.
Montanti was accompanied by socialite-activist Bianca Jagger on yesterday's trip.
Austrian Airlines gave free flights to Adnan Krilajevic, 15, whose right leg was blown off by a grenade, and Njegos Gluvakovic, 16, who lost a leg to a land mine.
The teens will get free medical care from the Shriners Children's Hospital in Philadelphia and will be housed on Staten Island by Mount Loretto.
New Yorkers who want to help cover living expenses for Ibadete Thaqi can send donations to NYANA-The Ibadete Thaqi Fund, New York Association for New Americans, 17 Battery Place, New York, N.Y. 10004-1102, or call (212) 898-4101.
Those interested in helping the Global Medical Relief Organization Fund can send donations to the fund at 64 MacFarland Ave., Staten Island, N.Y. 10305.
Original Publication Date: 01/28/2000
From: The New York Post