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Younes Wardat - Jordan

Younes Srour Wardat had been making his living as a taxi driver. Looking for an opportunity to increase his income, one day he decided to investigate a nearby olive grove that a friend told him might be available for rent. When he arrived, he realized the property was next to a minefield. While he was walking around the property, he stepped on a landmine.

The olive grove was far away from hospitals and emergency first aid. Younes laid in the grove suffering and near death for three hours before an Army forces car happened to drive by. His rescuers drove him to the nearest hospital, which was almost an hour away, and he was unconscious when they arrived. At the hospital he received first aid, and then was transferred to another hospital where his foot was amputated.

After the surgery, Younes was haunted by one question: How am I going to live from now on?

Younes did not have insurance, and his hospital bills were quite expensive. Worried that he could not provide for his family, he sent his wife and children to live with her family in Syria. He felt he was a useless and unproductive human being. It was at about this time that Younes met Ma’moun Abu Hdeib, an LSN Jordan Outreach Worker. According to Younes:

He was walking with a normal steady step so that you could never tell that he was wearing a prosthesis. We conversed and chatted about his injury and mine. I was so eager to speak to somebody. I wanted somebody to listen to me and feel my suffering.

For a while, Younes felt as though he were the only landmine victim in the world. But as Ma’moun visited him more and more, he began to feel less and less hopeless. Ma’moun helped Younes wrap his residual limb, and then taught him how to do it himself. LSN provided Younes with a prosthesis, which helped him walk, which in turn ended his confinement in his house.

Although Younes did not have insurance before his injury, Ma’moun showed him that under Jordan’s disability law, he was entitled to insurance coverage that will pay for his medicine, treatment and prosthesis.

In return for LSN’s assistance, Younes is providing a community service by cleaning the streets. Younes said that the work helped him to feel like normal person, and now he believes he can do something – he can work. He is currently looking for a car, so that he can resume his work as a taxi driver.

View the next profile: Radwan Wawi

Less than 10 percent of landmine survivors have access to proper medical care and rehabilitation. Please visit our Donate Now section and see what you can do to help landmine survivors around the world.

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