With A Leg To Stand On, Disabled Children Stand a Chance at Life

According to UNICEF, there are about 140 million children with disabilities in developing nations, but more than 96 percent do not have access to treatment.

Financial services professional C. Mead Welles encountered one such child while on a business trip in Indonesia. The boy, who had a bleeding stubbed leg, sat on a garbage can lid that was being pulled by two other boys.

Shaken by what he had witnessed, Welles decided to establish an organization to help disabled children and shared his idea with orthopedic surgeon Dr. Dinesh Patel, whom he later met at a social event. Dr. Patel in turn approached fellow orthopedic surgeon Dr. Harold van Bosse, and A Leg To Stand On (ALTSO) was created a few years later.

Starting out with its first clinic in Ahmedabad, India in 2003, ALTSO now operates in 15 developing countries including Bangladesh, Haiti, Ecuador, Tanzania, and Pakistan. The non-profit organization carries out its primary mission through its three fundamentals or “three T's”, namely:

Training. ALTSO's Fellowship Training Program educates doctors, rehabilitation specialists, prosthetists, and other medical professionals in partner countries on up-to-date orthopedic surgical methods, prosthetic design, and rehabilitation techniques.

Treatment. ALTSO provides the appropriate treatment for each patient's particular condition. The organization's services include health education, corrective surgery, and orthopedic and prosthetic apparatus.

Therapy. ALTSO offers continuous care for patients via post-operative physical therapy and medical records management, among others.

To date, A Leg To Stand On has given treatment and therapy to more than 5,300 children, while an additional 10,000 children have received care from medical professionals who have studied under ALTSO's Fellowship Training Programs.

Director of Programs AJ Warco explains that donations go straight to the beneficiaries' orthopedic services. This frees up funds for ALTSO's implementing partners, allowing them to hire more staff to help more children.