Ava Today has set with a victim of landmine from the Kurdish city of Piranshahr, Northwest of Iran. He has recently lost one of his eyes and his leg from landmine.
Q: Can you please introduce yourself?
A: My name is Luqman, I am 35-years-old peasant from Piranshahr.
Q: what happened to you?
A: About four months ago, a friend of mine and I were traveling to Iraqi Kurdistan to find a job there, because agriculture sector is declining now and we are out of job. But on our way to Iraq a landmine was exploded and wounded me. We didn’t know it is a landmine zone.
Q: so what happened next?
A: After the explosion, my leg was cut off and I couldn’t see anything. My friend carried me to the city and he called my family. They rushed me to Piranshahr hospital but they didn’t have enough operation facilities. So they sent me to Naghada hospital for the operation. They cut off my leg there after the operation but they couldn’t do anything about my eye. They sent me to Tabriz hospital for the eye operation and I was unconscious for 15 days. I stayed in the hospital for another 15 days after I woke up. I went to Farabi hospital in Tehran, three days after I came back home.
Q: Did you receive more operations in Farabi hospital?
A: They told me in Tabriz that they can’t do anything more about my eye. But in Tehran I have got two more operations on my eye and there is one more left.
Q: Did you received any help from the government?
A: No, not at all. We paid for all my operations and services I received in the hospitals. My insurance was not even accepted because they said landmine is not part of the insurance system.
Q: How is your health now?
A: `I must get another operation on my eye in Tehran and it costs 230 million Rial (about 5,500 USD). I must also get an artificial leg, if I made it in Iraq it is for free and if I make it in Iran, it costs 80 million Rial (1900 USD).
