Protecting Vulnerable Feet: The Life‑Changing Impact of a Simple Gift of Love
Where do you walk in a day? What do you step on when you’re out and about?
When you put your shoes on in the morning, you probably don’t think about this. For Shanta, it’s something she will always think about.
Two years ago, Shanta was a normal housewife. She had two kids: an adult daughter who was married and moved out, and an 8-year-old son at home. She enjoyed tending to the garden and growing chilies. She started feeling itchy, but the doctors told her it was allergies. At first, she wasn’t too worried, but her symptoms got worse and worse. Then it happened.
Shanta’s feet got cut. She didn’t notice until her injuries had developed into painful ulcers. The whole time, it was leprosy. She hadn’t felt her feet getting cut because leprosy had attacked the nerves in her feet and legs. By the time she came to Anandaban Hospital, Shanta thought she was going to die. She cried with worry, thinking about what would happen to her son. Who would take care of him? Would he have a future?
Shanta was given medication to treat leprosy. It is fighting the bacteria, but she is facing painful reactions. She’s afraid, and she cries thinking about the future. A lot of the fear comes from the ulcers on her feet. She’s scared that she will need her legs amputated. She will lose the ability to work and care for her son. That the infection will grow and kill her. She’s learning to clean and care for her wounds. She’s also receiving counselling to help with her anxiety and fear.
This is the case for so many people affected by leprosy. The bacteria destroy nerves and cause numbness, which increases the likelihood of severe injuries. It increases the chance that wounds are unnoticed until they fester and become infected.
Somebody like Shanta can be protected, though—with a simple Gift of Love. A pair of protective shoes can stop someone like her from getting the injuries that cause these terrible ulcers. Your simple Gift of Love can protect another person from the fear and sadness that Shanta has gone through.
