OSU students help Mexican orphans-part II

Thursday, June 30th 2005, 11:21 am

By: News On 6

Several Green Country students headed to Mexico to get their final lesson outside of the classroom. The students made prosthetics and braces at OSU-Okmulgee as part of their final project, then, delivered them to patients south of the border.

News on 6 reporter Omar Villafranca traveled with the students on a journey that took them more than 600 miles from Okmulgee to Mexico. After more than 11 hours in a car, the OSU students finally get to meet the patients at the Casa Bethesda Orphanage. Residents there have cerebral palsy or Down syndrome, epilepsy and even autism. Most have a combination of these disorders.

If the orphanage didn't take them in, the patients would have no where to turn. Orphanage director Sr. Andrena Mulligan: "They would just be discarded. Just discarded. We have one little boy who was actually tied to the leg of a table and fed by a neighbor for years and didn't walk or stand up."

Nacho was the little boy tied to the table. He's autistic and braces wrap up his fragile legs. No one knows who his parents are. This is the only family the teenager knows. Today, they're receiving some special attention. OSU professor Imelda Pena: "We're replacing everything. So hopefully, .what I'm going to do is assign one student to everyone so we can get moving."

The final test for these OSU students is putting the braces that they made on the residents. And like every student before a test, they're a little nervous. OSU student Regenia Lacquement has never worked on a patient, until now. Enrique's arthritis deformed his feet, making it painful for him to walk. The new shoe's Regenia molds to Enrique's feet will change both their lives. "It is cool! It is neat! He was just sitting in a chair when I got here and couldn't even walk and couldn't even move, now he's up and walking."

At the same time, the moment is bittersweet. The braces won't cure all their problems and there's a new patient. 6-year old Jasmine has cerebral palsy and her little legs need braces. So the students take another mold. Imelda Pena: "Is the work ever done? Nope. Never. We're planning a follow up visit to make sure all the braces are fitting well. Next visit we have our work cut out for us, so it's never complete."

Imelda Pena plans a follow-up trip to the orphanage and she's ready to make more braces if needed. Several of the students also say they plan to help others in the future, including patients in Green Country.