Sulaymaniyah Rehabilitation Centre Celebrates its 25th Anniversary

On 18 February, 1998, we opened our Sulaymaniyah Rehabilitation and Social Reintegration Centre in Iraq. Today we are celebrating its 25th anniversary!

Avan has been at the Centre since the beginning, first as a patient and now as one of our colleagues.

“We heard a lot of explosions and bullets, then suddenly a mortar hit our house, everything was blurred and I saw my leg was gone.” 

In 1991, Avan was at home in Sulaymaniyah, in the final days of her pregnancy, when her house was caught in the crossfire. After the explosion, she was rushed to the hospital by her neighbours. Avan’s leg was amputated and, the next day, she delivered her baby. 

Her leg made it difficult to travel to a safer location, and she did not receive a prosthesis until she made her way to Baghdad a year later. 

In 1998, Avan arrived at EMERGENCY’s Sulaymaniyah Rehabilitation Centre, where she received a new prosthesis that is constantly adjusted to her needs. She also started working at the Centre as a Receptionist. She says, “My life changed completely with the help and support of EMERGENCY, by making my prosthesis and working in the Centre. It has made me very happy through my life.” 

Thanks to colleagues like Avan, over the last 25 years we have provided more than 12,600 upper and lower limb prostheses and over 63,000 physical therapy sessions, completely free of charge.