{"id":79691,"date":"2025-07-07T13:24:46","date_gmt":"2025-07-07T08:24:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/?p=79691"},"modified":"2025-07-07T13:25:29","modified_gmt":"2025-07-07T08:25:29","slug":"from-karachi-to-gaza-pakistani-startup-bioniks-fits-prosthetics-limb-to-child-war-survivors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/pakistan\/from-karachi-to-gaza-pakistani-startup-bioniks-fits-prosthetics-limb-to-child-war-survivors\/","title":{"rendered":"From Karachi to Gaza: Pakistani startup Bioniks fits prosthetics limb to child war survivors"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>KARACHI (Reuters): As soon as eight-year-old Sidra Al Bordeeni returned from the clinic with her prosthetic arm, she jumped on a bicycle in the Jordanian refugee camp where she lives, riding for the first time since a missile strike in Gaza took her arm a year ago.<\/p>\n<p>Sidra was injured while sheltering at Nuseirat School, one of several Gaza schools converted into makeshift refuges from Israeli strikes. Her mother, Sabreen Al Bordeeni, said Gaza\u2019s collapsed health services and the family\u2019s inability to leave at the time made it impossible to save her hand.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe\u2019s out playing, and all her friends and siblings are fascinated by her arm,\u201d Al Bordeeni said on the phone, repeatedly thanking God for this day. \u201cI can\u2019t express how grateful I am to see my daughter happy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The arm was built over 4,000 kilometers away in Karachi by Bioniks, a Pakistani company that uses a smartphone app to take pictures from different angles and create a 3D model for custom prosthetics.<\/p>\n<p>CEO Anas Niaz said the social enterprise startup had fit more than 1,000 custom-designed arms inside Pakistan since 2021 \u2014 funded through a mix of patient payments, corporate sponsorship, and donations \u2014 but this was its first time providing prosthetics to those impacted in conflict.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">They didn\u2019t ask for much. Just a chance to move again. To feel like kids again.<br \/>\nThis is not just about prosthetics, it\u2019s about restoring what should\u2019ve never been taken.<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Bioniks?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Bioniks<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Gaza?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Gaza<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Sidra?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Sidra<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Bionic?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Bionic<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/GazaSurvivor?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#GazaSurvivor<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Accessibility?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Accessibility<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Inclusivity?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Inclusivity<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/HealGaza?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#HealGaza<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/fX5U4OYyXe\">pic.twitter.com\/fX5U4OYyXe<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Bioniks.org (@Bioniksorg) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Bioniksorg\/status\/1941211563853304255?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 4, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Sidra and three-year-old Habebat Allah, who lost both her arms and a leg in Gaza, went through days of remote consultations and virtual fittings. Then Niaz flew from Karachi to Amman to meet the girls and make his company\u2019s first overseas delivery.<\/p>\n<p>Sidra\u2019s device was funded by Mafaz Clinic in Amman, while donations from Pakistanis paid for Habebat\u2019s. Mafaz CEO Entesar Asaker said the clinic partnered with Bioniks for its low costs, remote solutions and ability to troubleshoot virtually.<\/p>\n<p>Niaz said each prosthetic arm costs about $2,500, significantly less than the $10,000 to $20,000 for alternatives made in the United States.<\/p>\n<p>While Bioniks\u2019 arms are less sophisticated than US versions, they provide a high level of functionality for children and their remote process makes them more accessible than options from other countries such as Turkiye and South Korea.<\/p>\n<p>He was flanked on the stage by Western diplomats, Indian officials, and a monk who\u2019s expected to lead the search for his successor, as well as Hollywood star Richard Gere, who said the Dalai Lama belongs to the world.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_79693\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-79693\" style=\"width: 591px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-79693 \" src=\"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/07094809991fa95.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"591\" height=\"355\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/07094809991fa95.jpg 800w, https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/07094809991fa95-300x180.jpg 300w, https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/07094809991fa95-768x461.jpg 768w, https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/07094809991fa95.avif 800w, https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/07094809991fa95-300x180.avif 300w, https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/07094809991fa95-768x461.avif 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 591px) 100vw, 591px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-79693\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A technician works on computers with prosthetic limb diagram at Bioniks in Karachi, April 29, 2024. \u2014 Reuters<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cWe plan on providing limbs for people in other conflict zones too, like Ukraine, and become a global company,\u201d Niaz said.<\/p>\n<p>Globally, most advanced prosthetics are designed for adults and rarely reach children in war zones, who need lighter limbs and replacements every 12\u201318 months as they grow.<\/p>\n<p>Niaz said they were exploring funding options for Sidra and Habebat\u2019s future replacements, adding the cost wouldn\u2019t be too high.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOnly a few components would need to be changed,\u201d he said, \u201cthe rest can be reused to help another child.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Bioniks occasionally incorporates popular fictional characters into its children\u2019s prosthetics such as Marvel\u2019s Iron Man or Disney\u2019s Elsa, a feature Niaz said helps with emotional acceptance and daily use.<\/p>\n<h2><a id=\"finally-hug-my-father\" class=\"heading-permalink\" title=\"Permalink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/1922526\/from-karachi-to-gaza-pakistani-startup-ships-prosthetics-to-child-war-survivors#finally-hug-my-father\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/a>\u2018Finally hugged my father\u2019<\/h2>\n<p>Gaza now has around 4,500 new\u00a0amputees, on top of 2,000 existing cases from before the conflict, many of them children, making it one of the highest child-amputation crises per capita in recent history, the UN humanitarian agency OCHA said in March.<\/p>\n<p>An April study by the Palestinian Bureau of Statistics found at least 7,000 children have been injured since Israel\u2019s war on Gaza began in October 2023. Local health authorities say more than 50,000 Palestinians have been killed, nearly one-third of them children.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"media sm:w-full w-full media--stretch \"><figcaption class=\"media__caption \"><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The World Health Organisation has said Gaza\u2019s health system is \u201con its knees\u201d with Israel\u2019s border closures drying up critical supplies, meaning the wounded cannot access specialised care, especially amid waves of wounded patients.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhere it\u2019s nearly impossible for healthcare professionals and patients to meet, remote treatment bridges a critical gap, making assessments, fittings, and follow-up possible without travel or specialised centres,\u201d said Asadullah Khan, Clinic Manager at ProActive Prosthetic in Leeds, UK, which provides artificial limbs and support for trauma patients.<\/p>\n<p>Bioniks hopes to pioneer such solutions on a large scale but funding remains a roadblock and the company is still trying to form viable partnerships.<\/p>\n<p>Sidra is still adjusting to her new hand on which she now wears a small bracelet. For much of the past year, when she wanted to make a heart, a simple gesture using both hands, she would ask someone else to complete it. This time, she formed the shape herself, snapped a photo, and sent it to her father, who is still trapped in Gaza.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat I\u2019m looking forward to most is using both my arms to finally hug my father when I see him,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>KARACHI (Reuters): As soon as eight-year-old Sidra Al Bordeeni returned from the clinic with her prosthetic arm, she jumped on a bicycle in the Jordanian refugee camp where she lives, riding for the first time since a missile strike in Gaza took her arm a year ago. Sidra was injured while sheltering at Nuseirat School, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":79692,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[10125,29951,29953,29952],"class_list":["post-79691","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pakistan","tag-gaza","tag-bioniks-karachi","tag-prosthetic-arm","tag-sidra-al-bordeeni"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79691","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=79691"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79691\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":79695,"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79691\/revisions\/79695"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/79692"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79691"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=79691"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=79691"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}