- The 64-year-old man lived with pain and a short leg since a shooting incident in 2018.
- Tygerberg Hospital used a new internal device to regrow bone without using painful metal frames outside the leg.
A former police officer has received the ultimate gift after seven years of constant pain.
The 64-year-old man was shot in 2018. Since then, his leg would not heal properly. He suffered from a broken bone that stayed broken and one leg was shorter than the other.
Walking was a struggle and he lost his independence.
But now, doctors at Tygerberg Hospital in Cape Town have changed his life. They performed a special surgery that is a first for South Africa.
Usually, fixing a bad bone break like this needs metal frames stuck to the outside of the leg for months. It is painful, uncomfortable, and prone to infection.
This time, the team used a new device called a Fitbone Transport Nail. It works from inside the body to grow new bone and lengthen the leg comfortably.
Professor Nando Ferreira led the team. He says this gives patients a real second chance at a normal life.
‘This operation demonstrates how far we have come in building world-class limb reconstruction capacity within the South African public sector,’ said Ferreira.
The hospital is one of only a few places in the world that can do this.
Pictured above: Doctors performing surgery.
Image source: Pexels
