13-year-old Georgi takes first step

13-year-old Georgi Atanasov from the town of Krichim in Bulgaria has all chances to recover, ride his bike and play together with his friends. Only a few days ago, the boy passed a complex 4.5-hour long orthopedic surgery performed by Prof. Dr. Salih Marangoz at Acibadem Hospital in Istanbul.

A year ago, the boy was at risk of complete disability, according to his mother Evelina Atanasova. At first, the kid started limping while walking and complained of leg pain. Then, shortening of his left leg began too. Evelina consulted doctors in Bulgaria and Turkiye. She arrived with Georgi to Istanbul for an examination with the Pediatric Orthopedics specialist Prof. Dr. Salih Marangoz, who performed MRI imaging and diagnosed “bilateral hip epiphysiolysis”. Prof. Marangoz recommended an operation for fixation with screws, and then corrective osteotomy on the left leg 3 to 6 months later.

Evelina and her son departed for Istanbul on September 8 with their hearts low, but the warm welcome that followed eased all their worries. “We were welcomed as if we were at home. We also had a great interpreter, Neriman, who was next to us 24 hours daily from our arrival to our discharge from the hospital”, says Georgi’s mother.

Minutes before the surgery, Prof. Dr. Salih Marangoz somehow sensed that the boy was afraid. He gave him a comforting shoulder pat and told him that everything would be fine, and in a month or two Georgi would feel  like all the other children. “The surgery lasted four hours and a half; then, professor Marangoz himself brought Georgi to our room and told me that the operation had been successful. Love and care did not stop there. The nurses at the hospital used to hug Georgi and keep him well occupied so that he would not think about the pain after the surgery,” Evelina explains. Georgi was back on his feet only a day or two after the operation.

“He took his first steps. It was as if he was walking for the first time. We were provided with advice about his rehabilitation and recommendations on what to do when we are back in Bulgaria,” the mother says.

3 months from now, Georgi Atanasov will travel to Istanbul again for examinations and MRI imaging. Then Prof. Dr. Salih Marangoz will decide when to appoint the second surgery.