Published on Thursday, August 28, 2008
By DARRELL R. SANTSCHI
Malek Mohammad was showing off a little around the swimming pool at Loma Linda University's Drayson Center on Thursday.
After a quick workout in the weight room and shooting hoops in the gym, he caught the eyes of fellow swimmers who stopped doing laps and watched as the 18-year-old Afghan walked across the pool deck on his hands, did a hand-stand at the edge of the pool and flipped his body into a somersault and into the water.
It was a trick he couldn't have done when he arrived in Loma Linda nine months ago, 11 pounds lighter, able to lift only one-tenth as much weight and in desperate need of two comfortable artificial legs.
They will replace the legs he lost when he stepped on mines left over from the Russian occupation of Afghanistan 30 years ago.
"He's been an incredibly enthusiastic patient," says Dr. Murray Brandstater, medical director for rehabilitation programs at Loma Linda University Medical Center
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