September 3, 2025Wound Awareness Week (1 – 7 September 2025) raises awareness about chronic wounds and their impact on individuals and communities. The theme this year of Wounds Affect Every Body, emphasises that every cut, graze, or tear in the skin can become chronic if not treated properly.
To bring awareness to living with a wound, the Foot Procedure Unit sat down with Mr Abdul-Halim Saad (one of our current clients) for a Q and A regarding his experience with living with a diabetic foot ulcer over the past five months.
Q: What is it like living with a wound?
I’ve previously had Charcot’s foot, and now this wound has impacted my daily life, requiring regular dressing and limiting my ability to walk both inside and outside the home.
I’ve been going through a challenging time, and it has impacted my ability to work, as I was unable to travel as planned. Even for simple things like going on a picnic, I’ve had to decline because I’m not in a position to attend right now. I’m hopeful that with proper care, I’ll overcome this and be able to enjoy these activities again.
Q: What advice would you give someone else in a similar position?
If you know what the problem is, in this case diabetes, make sure to keep your blood sugar levels under control, keep the wound clean, always take the advice of your medical team and try to limit movement while the foot wound is healing. Doing so will help the wound heal faster.
Q: What have you done or what strategies have you put in place to cope with the period you have be managing the wound?
I have found the management through the podiatry and orthotics team to be very helpful. I have followed the teams’ instructions with the offloading felt and the boots that they have prescribed me. I am hoping that this will help me to get out of this problem soon. So, following the specialist’s instructions has been a big help.
Q: How has podiatry helped you to achieve your goal/s?
They have been very supportive, advising me on the wound’s progress and suggesting solutions and ways to offload the area to help improve the healing rate. The podiatry and orthotics team have been debriding and cleaning the wound for me, reapplying the felt to my foot, and using all their available resources to keep the wound healthy and progressing toward healing. I had a new orthotic fitted today, so hopefully, I’ll remain wound-free with this.
Photo caption: Mr Abdul-Halim Saad photographed with Tim Butters (Podiatrist) and Amanda Sergi (Orthotist) from the Craigieburn Centre, Sub Acute Foot Procedure Unit.
