I am thankful for all the different people who come to work at the hospital. This story from the hospital website is about a patient who will not get better with medicine nor with surgery. Time, patience, and physical therapy are the cure. I am glad we have physical therapy here. They can often bring hope to desperate situations.

An ax in the skull

A case for phsical therapist Hanna Friess

Three year old Noe is an active little guy. His father is cutting wood and naturally Noe wants to watch him. In an unguarded moment he stumbles between his Dad’s legs. The ax lands on his head and splits it open in the fraction of a second.

The transport of the unconscious child over the roads from Andahuaylas to Cusco takes 7 hours. A neurosurgeon is lifting the impressed skull and drains the subjacent hematoma. Subsequently the little one awakens. His left side is paralyzed. As the parents get the information, that nothing else can be done for their boy, they are very sad. Bine Vogel, a former Diospi Suyana coworker, intervens. She sends the father and his son to the hospital Diospi Suyana.

Physical therapist Hanna Friess treats her first patient after an ax strike into the skull. Twice a day she is working hard on Noe. Indeed he is already able to ride a tricycle. That’s why everybody is very optimistic that the left sided paralysis will regress completely.

The work of an ax. The split skull can clearly be seen.