Stephen, 12, romps confidently around the sunlit courtyard, weaving in between wheelchair-bound patients as he plays with the other children, his prosthetic leg barely a hindrance.
When he was 5 years old, the car he and his family were travelling in hit a landmine in South Sudan's northern town of Bentiu. His grandmother was killed. His left leg was shattered and had to be amputated.
But much of the country faces limited access to healthcare, a result of fighting or simply a lack of infrastructure, with roads typically being utterly impassable during the rainy season."A simple injury or fracture that could be treated easily in most countries... can result in infections here which result in an amputation because of problems with healthcare," said ICRC prosthetic specialist Regis Tiffeneau.
"They come here, they are traumatised, most of them are injured by gunshots and mines," said social worker James Soma."We talk to them about forgiveness." Another was bitten by a snake and was not treated for almost two weeks, so his leg had to be amputated. Laytol is trying out her new leg for the first time, balancing herself calmly between two metal bars.
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