30/10/2024

The prosthetic leg the hospital made for me was painful, so I eventually crafted my own from a willow tree, earning me the nickname Hussein Dartash (Carpenter).

I have a deep love for the nature and mountains of Kurdistan. One day, while searching for spring plants along the border between Southern and Eastern Kurdistan, I stepped on a landmine left from the Iran-Iraq war, which led to the loss of my leg. Later, as I moved to Marivan and trained as a carpenter, I found hope in crafting a wooden leg for myself.

In the past twenty years, I’ve created many prosthetic legs for others who needed help rising above life’s challenges. I’ve always expressed my heartache by playing the Shimshal I carved from tree branches in the mountains of Kurdistan.