Ezer Mizion’s Augmentative and Alternative Communication Division
A young man is wounded in a battle in the North. His legs are crushed precluding mobility but, even worse, severe wounds to the head are precluding speech. A young man who cannot walk can still function as a human being. But young man who cannot speak, cannot communicate even the most mundane thought, feels his very humanity being snatched away.
He has a question for the doctor but the words taunt him as they continue to reverberate in his head…unable to exit and be conveyed to another. His mother’s loving ministrations bring him to tears. Not a syllable of appreciation can he utter. The aide brings a breakfast tray and asks if he’d like coffee or tea to go with it. He’d love a warm and comforting cup of coffee but his desire is locked in and cannot get out. A good friend manages, even with an unbelievably busy schedule, to come to visit and he cannot even voice two simple words, thank you.
Extensive surgery will hopefully enable him to walk someday and perhaps therapy will allow him to communicate. But right now he is just barely existing in a black cloud of despair.
Ezer Mizion’s Medical Equipment Loan Division
The hospital tried a simple whiteboard, having him point to letters with his one finger that remained uninjured. But it wasn’t working. And so they turned to Ezer Mizion’s Augmentative & Alternative Communicative Division. The patient’s eyes showed his incredulous delight when presented with a customized piece of equipment that perfectly suited his needs. He was freed. He could connect. He could interact and share.
Unfortunately, after October 7th, the number of speech-impaired soldiers increased tremendously but Ezer Mizion is there to give them back their humanity until the jubilant day returns when they can speak on their own.
For one patient, it may be a speech device. For another, state of the art equipment to address mobility issues or respiratory challenges. High tech medical equipment of all sorts is available for loan as long as needed. Accidents, injury, illness, and disability can make a person dependent on specialized medical equipment and machines. While these items improve quality of life significantly, they are often prohibitively expensive and difficult to obtain.
Ezer Mizion’s Equipment Loan Centers offer people an alternative to purchasing medical and rehabilitative equipment for short-term use, easing the financial burden on families of ill and disabled people. Located throughout Israel, the Loan Centers lend close to 80,000 pieces of specialized equipment every year.
Rows and rows of equipment for specialized needs, all perfectly repaired and polished to a sheen, stand at attention, each in its designated ‘street’, ready to be delivered to the next recipient. He and his family will be educated in its use and told not to hesitate to call if any questions arise. The cost? $0.00. Paid in full by your generosity. On behalf of all those who benefit, our many thanks to our unstinting supporters around the globe.
