Amputees want more choices of artificial legs
Like many other bomb victims in the restive deep South, Pol Corporal Wutthinant Chan-on is just a faceless figure whose sacrifice to serve the Motherland and to protect the innocent people was barely mentioned nor much appreciated.
Since the bomb blast on May 10 last year which ripped off one of his legs near a roadside shelter located in the border area between Raman and Muang districts of Yala province, the former Special Action Force policeman spent most of the year bed-ridden at the Police Hospital.
He has fully recovered although his amputated leg still hurts and needs a wheel chair. But his biggest problem is to find the right prosthetic or artificial leg that fits him.
"Prosthetic legs are very important. But the hospital here has only one size for all. Some patients have short legs while the others have long legs. So one size of artificial legs does not fit all." Pol Corporal Wutthinant pointed out during an interview with a reporter of Isra news agency.
He said he would like the National Police Office or the government to pay more attention to servicemen who lost their legs in their performances of duty. He noted that a prosthetic leg which fits well does not only allow the person to walk properly but also help improve his/her mental health.
As for the hospital’s prosthetic legs, Pol Cpl Wutthinant pointed out that the artificial legs were not provided free of charge to the amputees. Each costs about 48,000 baht whereas the compensation provided by the National Police Office for a lost leg amounts to just 30,000 baht.
"This means we have to dig into our pockets to pay an addition of 18,000 baht to get one artificial leg." he said.
The policeman said many people who visited the amputees admitted they understood how the amputees felt without one or two legs "but they will never feel the way we actually feel."
Serving as a member of the Special Action Force, he said he was given a basic salary plus 6,140 baht in monthly allowance and an addition of 2,500 baht risk allowance.
He complained that his positional pay for a non-commissioned officer which amounts to 3,000 baht a month had been cancelled after he was bed-ridden for more than six months because he could not return to work. He said he wanted this problem to be rectified because he could not return to work because of sickness not because he abandoned work. Worse still, the special allowance and risk allowance were also cancelled.
WThe 3,000 baht positional pay may be a small amount for many people. But for a junior policeman who is injured, it means something." he said, adding that his monthly earning has been substantially reduced to a few thousand baht from 15,000-16,000 baht that he used to receive every month while still working in the far South.
Despite losing a log, the young policeman said he would not quit the service and hoped to return to the deep South to do his job.