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Russian Visitor Gets a Special Souvenir
Omaha World-Herald (Omaha, NE)
Posted on August 4, 2000
By Jeremy Olson
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| Photo: Mark Maguire of the Brace Place holds the prosthetic leg that will replace Russian Irina Drozdova's old one. | A Russian delegation traveled to Omaha this month to learn about democracy, but one participant will return home with an equally strong lesson about charity.
Irina Drozdova, 41, wanted to visit the University of Nebraska Medical Center's prosthetics lab because she has an artificial leg. During the tour earlier this week, doctors learned that her prosthetic was 30 to 40 years behind in terms of technology.
As a result, her hosts from the Friendship Force of Eastern Nebraska quickly secured funding to buy her a new one. Doctors agreed to fit her with it even though that process normally takes weeks or months - not the 48 hours she has left in this country.
The attention embarrassed Drozdova as reporters surrounded her Thursday while a prosthetist fitted her with a test leg. She will return home Friday and will receive the new prosthetic later this year when one of her local hosts travels to Russia.
Prosthetists said they worried that the finished product may not be perfect and that they won't be there to adjust it. But they said the much-lighter prosthetic should offer greater mobility and less pain.
Drozdova stressed this is not why she came here, but she considers it "a miracle."
"The authorities don't always take care of the disabled people in my country," she said through translator Natalya Romanova. "This is a good way to introduce this new technology to people."
Drozdova, who lives in the Siberia region of Russia and works for an organization that assists the disabled, said she loves hiking and rockclimbing. She lost her right leg 10 years ago, after a car ran over it and she suffered an infection during a lengthy hospital stay.
"I felt quite comfortable with my old prosthetic," said Drozdova through the translator. "The thing is, I never knew what to compare it with."
To assist the Friendship Force with the costs, which are roughly $5,000 to $7,000, donors can call (402) 391-4625.
Reprinted with permission from the Omaha World-Herald.
[Reprinted with Permission]
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