'A Leg To Stand On': Ghana Amputee Making Do-It-Yourself Prosthetics

People in Ghana's rural and impoverished north can often get caught in a grim medical catch-22.

With few up-to-date facilities, simple injuries can end in amputations -- leaving patients in need of expensive, imported prosthetics.

But the people of the north are also a resourceful bunch.

Out of a modest workshop in the town of Wa, Simon Yirlieb is offering amputees a lifeline, crafting affordable limbs from locally sourced materials.

"I decided to use my own experience to help people," Yirlieb, who lost his right leg after he was bitten by a snake as a teenager when he was working on a farm to pay for himself through school.

Determined to help others facing similar challenges, he trained at the Brother Tarcius Prosthetic and Orthotics Training College in Nsawam, in the country's south.

But travelling the 600 kilometres (370 miles) to Nsawam for a fitting or a repair is beyond most people in the north, Yirlieb, 32, told AFP in his shop close to the Burkina Faso border.

To say nothing of the prices for imported prosthetics, which run from $800 to $1,000, a hefty sum in a West African nation where the GDP per capita is $2,200.

His centre, which he named "A Leg 2 Stand On", plugs a key gap in the Upper West Region, where none of the six major health facilities offer prosthetic services.

Yirlieb assembles the prosthetics using local leather and foam, along with other materials he buys from Wa market.

While some imported components are still needed, such as artificial knee joints and pylons, his local sourcing drives costs down to between $100 and $150.

The modest prices Yirlieb charges are subsidised by his job in the physiotherapy department at the local hospital.

In sub-Saharan Africa, disparity in access to prosthetics is pronounced due to a scarcity of trained prosthetists, limited access to the supply chain, and a lack of manufacturing that increase costs, according to STAND, an NGO providing training and supplies to the continent.

In Ghana, an estimated 2.5 million people need prosthetics and orthotics, including more than 846,000 children, reports the German Else Kroener-Fresenius Foundation, highlighting the shortage of qualified specialists to meet this demand.

 'Able to walk again' 

In Ghana, one section of Yirlieb's workshop is dedicated to taking clients' measurements, another to the cutting, sewing and building of the limbs, while there's also an area for the final stage: rehabilitation, where users learn to walk again.

For 35-year-old businessman Mohammed Tafheem, Yirlieb's work has been life-changing.

"I can now walk freely to attend to business," he said. "Before, I was stuck.

"It's tough work for Yirlieb, who rattles off a list of equipment he could use to make his work easier, including a sewing machine and riveting press.

Frank Jilima, a 13-year-old student who lost his leg after a bicycle accident, can now walk, after previously being forced to stay home for an entire year.

"I can now go to school after getting my prosthetic leg," he told AFP.

His mother, Amina, can hardly hide her joy.

"My son is able to walk again," she said. "I am grateful to Simon for what he is doing to help those who cannot walk."

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)