Govt helps 16-year-old girl resume walking on 'German feet'

CHENNAI: Sixteen-year-old Abinaya M, whose toes were amputated last January following an autoimmune disease, has started walking on her own, thanks to a pair of prosthetic feet brought from Germany after her social media post moved chief minister M K Stalin.
A resident of Sirkazhi in Mayiladuthurai district, Abinaya was diagnosed with systemic lupus erythematosus, a disease which triggers the patient's immune system to attack own tissues.The condition had affected blood supply to both her lower legs. Doctors at a hospital in Puducherry recommended below-the-knee amputation. Abinaya put out a video message pleading for help. It caught the attention of chief minister M K Stalin who instructed that the girl be shifted to Rajiv Gandhi General Hospital (RGGH) in Chennai and given free treatment. With aggressive therapy for her autoimmune condition, a team of RGGH doctors including vascular surgeons managed to save a large portion of her limbs but could not save the toes.
"Since she was young surgeons decided to wait for a while before the amputation. Just as predicted, blood flow improved and they were able to save the calf and heel," said hospital dean Dr E Theranirajan.
After the amputation, she went through rehabilitation sessions and was trained to walk with and without assistance. Doctors took measurements of her legs and sent them to a prosthesis manufacturing company in Germany. "They first gave me plastic prosthesis that came up to my knee," said the Class X student. Her mother M Kanimozhi, who works as a domestic help, said she was elated when her daughter started walking again.
On Thursday, health minister Ma Subramanian gave her the German 'feet' - that matched her size and skin colour - imported from Germany for 2.86 lakh. "I can walk to school now," said Abinaya. "No one will know these feet aren't mine." She thanked the health minister while a team of doctors and nurses cheered her. Kanimozhi, a mother of two girls whose husband died of electric shock, said: "I wouldn't have been able to buy those foreign feet for her."
"My husband was electrocuted when Abhinaya was just a toddler. I have worked hard to bring up my two children," she said. Abinaya will require continues treatment for her autoimmune disease. In March this year, she will appear for her board examinations. "I want to become a pediatrician," she said as her mother packed their bags to get back to their hometown. "I will meet the CM and thank him," she said.