This is 10 year old Eduardo Daniel. He has a degenerative muscular and spinal disease and needs 2 hand, 2 leg and one body brace to aid him in his mobility.. His family is so excited that thanks to our HKIE donors and Prostesis Imbabura in Ibarra, their son will have the aids needed to help Eduardo lead a more normal life.
Thank you HKIE donors and supporters!!

This is 16 year old Hilda. Hilda was born with a malormed hip and unfortunately her parents were told she neede to wait til she was older to get it corrected.
Dr.Gustavo Ochoa examined her and determined she will need a hip replacement, but if done now she would most likely need at least two more. In the hopes of easing her pain he determined that special orthopedic shoes may help until she is in her early 20's and suitable for surgery.
Her special shoes need to lift the one foot almost 2 inches. The shoe was made to Hilda's specs, so no one could tell she needed special shoes. We are all hoping and praying these shoes will help her live a good life while she awaits surgery.

This is 8 year old Camilla from Cotacachi. She was born ith cerebral palsy and is struggling to learn to stand and walk on her own.
HKIE was contacted with the request for braces and a "stand". Prostesis Imbabura formed the braces and stand for us. Camilla and her family are hoping this will help her mobility. The goal is to be able to join the Cotacachi special olympic cheer squad in Adu Dabai and Florida this coming spring.
Thanks to our supporters Camilla has a chance to have her dream come true!

This is 15 year old Brianna. She lost her leg several years ago to cancer. Unfortunately her leg was not correctly prepared for a prosthesis, so Brianna was forced to use crutches or a wheelchair.
Thanks to our HKIE supporters and a generous discount from Hospital Metropolitano in Quito, Brianna's leg has been surgically repaired and she will now be able to receive a prosthetic leg and will be able to walk on her own in no time!

This is 14 year old Juan David from the coast. He was born without the lower half of his right leg. He had a prosthetic leg when he was about four but obviously had outgrown it ....so he has been without a prosthetic leg for several years.
We were notified by Protesis Imbabura in Ibarra that the family was praying he could receive a new prosthetic leg which they could not afford. So thanks to our relationship with Protesis Imbabura and the generosity of our donors, Juan David will now be walking and running alongside his friends.
SPECIAL NOTE...We want to thank our Salinas board member, Luis Galarza, for coordinating all of our patients from the coast in a such a professional and timely manner. Luis is simply the best!

Pictured is 5 year old Antony. He had surgery 6 weeks ago on his feet ( they were pointed down and in). Yesterday, he and his mom made their fourth trip from Cotacachi to Cuenca. At this time Dr Ochoa removed the casts.
and he was very pleased with the results. Antony's mom will need to stimulate his feet and gradually start teaching him to walk correctly.
Thanks to Dr. Gustavo Ochoa and our supporters, Antony will now be able to run and play with his friends and not face future problems with his hip and spine!

This is Junior...a sweet 3 year old who suffered a stroke at birth.
His muscle coordination is severely impaired, making it difficult to hold his head up or sit up on his own. We saw him recently and he seems to be improving....​Junior was in need of a chair designed to fit his body and allow his legs to grow normally and keep his spine straight. The back of the chair can be adjusted for his comfort and his physical therapy sessions. As he gets older and his body grows, the chair can be adjusted accordingly.
Look at that smile! You think he likes his new comfortable chair?
​Junior and his family are very thankful to our loyal HKIE supporters for providing this specialized chair.

Update from Helping Kids In Ecuador (HKIE)
What a difference a year makes!
We just received a photo of 6 year old Maylin (from the Otavalo area) from her therapist. She is standing on her own! One year ago she never left her crib without being carried by a family member. Now with the help of Jasmim, her therapist, she is standing and hopefully soon will be able to walk. Her therapist says she has never seen anyone work so hard....What a miracle for her, her family and her little community!
​All their lives have been impacted thanks to our donors who make this possible!

Pictured is Priscila with Dr Pablo Javier Salamea Molina after her third and last surgery The top right picture is her hand after the first surgery. The bottom  picture is before her first surgery. What a difference!
Priscila has now had the last of her three surgeries to create fingers to give her a normal hand. She previously kept her hand in her pocket, she was so embarrassed to have others see her hand. When she was younger, her mother had to hide the scissors because Priscila could not understand why they couldn't just cut her fingers apart so she could be like all the other children.
Thanks to the surgeries performed by Dr. Pablo, Priscila now waves her hand around and is so happy to have a totally functional left hand! After she has 30 days or so to heal from her last surgery we will post another picture!
​Thanks also to Choco Spivey of Villa de Los Suenos for introducing Priscila to HKIE.