Gaza: Ahmed Al-Natour was working at his Gaza market shoe stall when a fire started in a nearby bakery and swept through a crowd of shoppers last March.
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Twenty-five people were killed and Natour suffered severe burns to his face and other parts of his body. Back home after months in hospital, he is venturing out wearing a therapeutic mask now being made locally for the first time.
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A physiotherapist scans the face of Ahmed. Using a 3D scanner in its clinic and a 3D printer owned by a Gaza business, Medecins Sans Frontieres-France provides compressive masks for Gaza facial burn victims to help them heal and prepare some for reconstructive surgery.
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The transparent masks are made of solid plastic materials imported from France that help soften tissues and prevent complications such as scarring.
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A physiotherapist works on a laptop as he designs 3D transparent face mask. "I feel comfortable when I wear it, and it relaxes the face. It is easy to use, and I go shopping while wearing it," Natour said, as he wore the mask fastened with elastic straps.
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Ahmed is fitted with a 3D transparent face mask. In the past, 3D masks were available for burn patients in Gaza only when they travelled to Jordan for reconstructive surgery.
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A physiotherapist prepares to put a 3D transparent mask. Coronavirus travel restrictions have made such journeys difficult, with only two Gaza patients able to make the trip in 2020 compared with 25 in 2019.
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Abed El-Hamid Qaradaya, MSF-France's physiotherapy activity manager in Gaza, said at one of the organisation's clinics that the masks had made a major difference for some patients. "We have made face masks for 23 patients since the middle of 2020, and they helped to transform their lives," he said.
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