Miguelito, with two missing lower limbs, will function best with two sets of prostheses of different lengths.  He learned to walk on severely shortened legs and, on steep slopes (which abound in his town) and on steps, he will be more stable wearing “stubbies.” These are prostheses which are shorter than full length. This boy’s “can do” attitude makes this a good...

This is Maria Cristina at one year old in 2018. No one is certain how this happens – or even if this is what happens – but we think that, as a few fetuses develop, one or more of their appendages get strangled by tough threads of tissue inside the uterus. The rapidly multiplying stem cells that grow into fingers, legs, arms or faces become ensnared in these Amniotic Bands,...

Mario is a bright-eyed 11 year-old in the northern mountains of Guatemala. He lives in the same town as Dani and was born with a similar congenital deformity.  He is missing the lower portion of his left leg. His well-worn prosthesis gives proof to his passion of playing soccer and  bouncing around his school campus. With the help of the local Rotary Club, FAKS arranged with Operation...

Levin is 19 years old, the youngest son of eight in a farming family who live in the mountains about 3 hours north of San Pedro Sula, Honduras.  Levin is a shy young man.  Part of his reticence may have to do with the psychological effects of having lived his life with a congenital, disfigurement of his lower right leg.  A few inches below his knee, his tibia made a 90...

In April of 2017 Dani was six years old. He had never walked nor had he ever seen a doctor. He was born with a severe club foot on the right. On the left, mother nature begrudgingly gave him only a thin rounded stump, ending a few inches below the knee. But he adapted and, crawling sideways like a crab, he scurried across any surface with unbelievable speed and agility. Notice in the picture that his mother had reinforced his pant legs with canvas to provide some level of protection to his legs as he crawled on the ground. Operation Rainbow surgeons were able to correct most of the...