Domestic violence amputee receives prosthetics in New York

Nazalena Natasha Houston, who was brutally mutilated, while her children were murdered by her former abusive partner, now has a new lease on life as she was recently the recipient of prosthetics, a gift from a group of New York-based Guyanese.

According to a CBS2 television report, Houston’s prosthetics—a right arm and a left hand—were made by Dan Bastian, an amputee himself, who learned of the tragedy from the group who had been pooling resources for a year to get Houston help.

Nazalena Natasha Houston
Nazalena Natasha Houston

“It broke my heart — to hear that would happen to someone,” said Bastian told CBS2. “At least it’s a start; it gets her back out in the community. She can actually use the functional arms.”

Houston travelled to Long Island, New York, where her prosthetics were fitted.

Her new left hand has “acrylic nails. It’s custom painted to match her skin exactly with the veins; the palms,” Bastian told CBS2.

She was also fitted with a body-powered right arm. “She can open and close the hand; lock and unlock the elbow so that she can hold things,” Bastian told the television station.

Houston, who CBS2 said was due back in Guyana this week, expressed her gratitude, “I have a life back, and I’m thankful for everything,” she told CBS2.

On July 31, 2013, Houston’s former reputed husband Richard Lord used the tool of his trade – his cane-cutter’s cutlass – to slash his children, five-year-old Kimberly and two-year-old Saif, to death. Houston was also brutally chopped, as Lord lopped off her right arm close to the shoulder along with three fingers from her left hand. Assuming she was also dead, he escaped and took his own life a few days later.