Beyond the Scars: Reclaim life beyond disability

For years, armed conflict in northeast Nigeria has left more than physical scars.

It has displaced communities, disrupted livelihoods and placed enormous pressure on essential services, including healthcare.

In Maiduguri, the Physical Rehabilitation Centre (PRC) at the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital (UMTH) is one place where some of those affected are trying to rebuild their lives.

Zara Ammakolo, 29, knows the journey all too well.

Today, she works at the institution as a receptionist.

But she first arrived there as someone in need of rehabilitation.

In 2019, her life changed after she sustained a gunshot injury.

"It was in the year 2019 and I sustained a gunshot injury where I had a comminuted fracture with vascular injury," she told CGTN Africa.

"From there I was being managed at MST (Mobile Surgical Team), that is a state specialist hospital, where I was able to survive with my leg." Although the limb was saved, she was left with a discrepancy in her leg and weakness in her right lower limb.

For a time, she relied on two auxiliary crutches.

In 2020, a multidisciplinary team assessed her.

She was initially considered for a shoe raise, but it did not work because she was walking on her toes.

"They later reassessed me and they found out that I would be able to use the knee-ankle-foot orthosis," she said.

After that she was referred to an orthopedic hospital in Kano, where she received her first orthotic device.