He lost his legs in blast, helps a maimed deer walk again

The musk deer got the fresh lease of life thanks to 20-year-old Mohammad Aslam, who himself had lost his both legs in a mine blast in Poonch. Aslam was provided artificial limbs by Pritam Spiritual Foundation Trust, an NGO, and it later sent him to train in manufacture and repair of artificial limbs.

The deer was rescued from Kallar Kattal forests near Sangla village in Surankote tehsil on September 1 and it was bleeding profusely. It was brought for treatment to Poonch where the forest officials set up a temporary rescue centre. Though the wound got healed, the animal was unable to walk.

“It was after seeing his plight every day that we decided to experiment with an artificial limb.

Initially, we contacted the manufacturers in Rajasthan and Mumbai, but the price was steep,” Sharma said. That was when they turned to Aslam.

After three unsuccessful attempts, Aslam finally succeeded in manufacturing an 8-inch improvised artificial limb. After many trials, the deer started walking freely on Tuesday, Sharma said.