Philadelphia

Lack of Insurance Cost Him a Leg, But Charity Helped Him Walk Again

A man without insurance needed some kindness in his life after a physical tragedy. He found it

Léelo y míralo en Español.

Francisco Flores loved his landscaping job. For a decade, he worked outdoors — and on his feet.

Then, tragically, a serious infection cost the uninsured man the lower half of his right leg. For the past six months, Flores has been wheelchair-bound. That is, until he reached out to NBC10 Responds and Telemundo62 Responde with a plea for help.

Soon, he was hooked up with Dr. Ron Renzi, a podiatrist in Philadelphia, and John Izak, a prosthetist in Trevose, who agreed that Flores needed help as soon as possible if he wanted to walk again.

"The delay in care will affect people. It’s not only depressing but it’s depressing physiologically," Izak, who works for a company called Orthologix, said. "So your heart and everything goes and you get more debilitated."

Most of the components of Flores's new prosthetic limb were donated by a non-profit called "Limbs for Life."

Soon, Flores was undergoing hours of physical therapy, and eventually the big day came when he was fitted for his new leg. Now, he's walking, slowly but surely.

It'll take months to get used to it, the doctors said.

"Muchisimas gracis por todo!" Flores said as he grew emotional over his luck.

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