By CAM LUCADOU-WELLS
JANG Dhadly has long dreamed of walking with straight feet into his parents’ home in Punjab, India.
Thanks to a leg-up from generous Greater Dandenong donors, what looked like an impossibility is becoming reality.
Mr Dhadly, 27, is set to undergo the final stages of rehabilitation to overcome a clubbed and severely deformed foot that has hindered him since birth.
“I know there are a lot of people behind me.
“I don’t have the words to thank those guys,” Mr Dhadly said.
“It’s a miracle, a dream come true.
“I just want to walk by myself and in front of my mum.”
As a child, he struggled to walk – crawling on all fours until he was eight.
Since then, he had hobbled with an uncomfortable limp from his right foot and ankle.
Five years ago he left his Indian homeland intent on landing a well-paying job.
In India, due to discrimination against his disability, the best wage he could earn was $50 a month.
With the help of relatives, he moved to Dandenong on a student visa.
He has been studying business and automotive engineering while sharing a house with seven men and working part-time in a car wash in Dandenong Plaza car park.
He had hoped to fund the operations himself but his private medical insurance wouldn’t cover the cost of about $20,000 for surgery, anaesthetics and hospital stay.
Not being an Australian citizen, Mr Dhadly isn’t eligible for Medicare.
He couldn’t so much as afford $500 for a preliminary appointment with a surgeon.
It was at the car wash that he fatefully came to know Trevor Aspinall, who gathered together other well-meaning residents such as Dandenong Rotary Club’s Ashok Langer to raise money for treatment.
The operation in November was a radical one – an amputation of his right lower leg in preparation for a fitted prosthetic leg.
Mr Dhadly now straddles crutches and wears a temporary prosthetic – building strength in his walking muscles before having a customised lower leg fitted.
Last week came a vital act of generosity from Dandenong Club at the suggestion of Greater Dandenong councillor Jim Memeti – a $10,000 donation towards the new leg and rehabilitative treatment.
Mark Tannahill of GPT Group which manages Dandenong Plaza organised part-time work for Mr Dhadly during the recuperation.
He is also staging a fundraising dinner on 18 April to help with Mr Dhadly’s living costs in the meantime.
So far, Mr Dhadly has kept the operations a secret from his mum and dad.
But he has taken a few steps closer to a planned surprise visit to his parents some time soon.
To help Mr Dhadly, donate to the Jang Dhadly trust account (ANZ Bank, BSB number 013289, account 394273617).
For more details phone Ashok Langer on 0428 977 356.
