Walking Ad Space

We have all been watching the news in the past week looking at all the devastation that has happened, and that is taking place in Haiti.  Amongst the saddening amount of people who have died, been misplaced, and seriously injured are a large number of new, and soon to be amputees.  A surgical team from Medecins du Monde who have been working hard in the general hospital in the centre of Port-au-Prince expect to perform over 400 amputations of the next few days.  

Carol Bengle Gilbert wrote that Dr. George Bouttin, a Ft. Lauderdale, Florida surgeon volunteering in Port-Au-Prince, estimated that 95% of Haitians who suffered crushing injuries in the earthquake will undergo amputation.  Surgeons from Doctors without Borders predict this will lead to a tremendous surge in amputees in Haiti, possibly as many as 200,000. Dr. Phillip Guillieu, a volunteer surgeon from New York, told the Guardian that he alone performed 30 amputations in the past few days.

One media source said, “Can you imagine the horror of the earthquake survivor? To first suffer prolonged agony amid widespread destruction with withering hope, to experience relief at being pulled from rubble alive only to face the brutal shock of having a limb or appendage sawed off?”  I agree with this source and could not even begin to truly empathize with them. 

I cannot even begin to imagine the horror and pain that the people of Haiti are going through.  Individuals are being brought to makeshift-tent-style hospitals in the middle of muddy fields in hopes of receiving medical care.  New amputees are now recovering in these makeshift areas.  I remember the week after my amputation and all the pain and discomfort I had associated with it.   I was lucky I was in a fully equipped North American hospital.  For those in Haiti recovering I can only imagine the pain and discomfort they are feeling with such few resources available.  And to think most of us amputees had family and friends to support us through our surgeries.  Many in Haiti have lost their loved ones and are on this new journey all alone.  

“The number of amputations indicates that the need for post-earthquake physical rehabilitation and prosthetic devices for the amputees will be tremendous.”  So how can we help?   The Prosthetics Outreach Foundation is already making a great stride in helping out Haiti’s amputees.  Please click here  to see how you can help out.

Sources:  http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900SID/AZHU-7ZTRXZ?OpenDocument  and http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2619037/haitis_amputee_surge_rehab_prosthesis.html?cat=5

After a career-ending crash in 1967 that cost him his arm, Factory Harley-Davidson team racer Chris Draayer called on his teammate, the legendary Mert Lawwill, to build him an adequate prosthetic hand for riding his motorcycle.   Since then Mert has continued to develp his design and now offers his product to all who are amped to get back on there bikes and motorcycles. 

Merts main product is called, “The Hand.”  “The Hand” allows people either born without or who  have lost a limb to regain a sense of freedom with this Prosthetic hand. The unit mounts directly on your handlebar of a bicycle or motorcycle.  To learn more about this product please click here. 

Mert’s Hands is a new non-profit corporation created with the belief that disabled motorcyclist and bicyclist who have lost an appendage can regain normal mobility and independence in their chosen sport and everyday life.  Specially made prosthetic devices attach to any vehicle that uses a handle bar and connects the rider to the vehicle.  Mert has been manufacturing prosthetic devices for disabled riders for over 10 years.  During the last few years, numerous requests have been made from individuals that cannot afford these devices.  Mert’s Hands aims to provide these devices and services at discounted or no cost to qualified individuals.  To learn more about this please click here.

Sources:  http://www.mertshands.org/  http://www.motorcyclistonline.com/newsandupdates/122_1001_merts_hands_non_profit_corporation/index.html

The “Immaculate” is an artistic and very stand-out-ish design by Masters Student  Hans Alexander Huseklepp.  For Hans the concept “Immaculate” explores the idea of turning a handicap into a high-performance, cybernetic fashion statement.  The uniqueness and overall appeal of his desing leads me to agree that the “Immaculate” can be quite the fashion statement.  This prosthetic is full of tech-filled plates and dome joints that offer increased movement capeabilities that superseed  the function of our regular human arms.  It is fully connected to the wearers central nervous syetem to enable the movement of the prosthetic.  To read more please click here

To see the more of the article about the “Immaculate” click here

I doubt the ”Immaculate” will be in the commercial market for amputee s anytime soon.  Regardless I compliment Hans for his great work in the design of the prosthetic.  Maybe it stands out so much because of the model he used for the pictures, but that is merely my own thought. 

Source: www.engadget.com & www.instablogs.com

Bartlett Tendon (Pic from http://www.oandp.com/articles/images/2007-10_04/4-2.jpg)

PACE Rehabilitation, a UK based Rehabilitation center is helping to make mountain biking easier for Above Knee Amputees.  The “Bartlett Tendon” was designed by professional American downhill rider and above knee amputee,  Brian Bartlett.  PACE Rehabilitation have become the sole UK commercial provider for the Bartlett Tendon and will begin offering it to their customers.  British mountain biking enthusiast Glenn Johnston has already been trialling the Bartlett Tendon for a while.

To see a video of Brian in action with the Bartlett Tendon please click here

The Bartlett Tendon, equipped with a Rock Shox unit, allows above knee amputees to stand and sprint out of the saddle.  This is something that has not previously been possible for this type of amputation.

To see this story please click here

As a below knee amp I have a hard enough time biking as is, so I tip my hat to Brian and other AKA amps who are so involved in the sport of mountain biking and cycling.

Source:  www.singletrackworld.com

I Have written about Rick Ball before, and feel the need to do so again.   Rick ball is a below knee amputee who has accomplished some great  feats this past year.  Rick Ball 44, from Orillia, Canada is a three time world record holder for full marathon, half marathon, and 10 kilometer races.  He was recently asked by the Vancouver Olympic organizing committee to represent Ontario during the lighting ceremony in front of Parliament hill in Ottawa, Canada and to carry the torch for part of its journey across Canada.

Rick hopes to compete in 2012 in the London Paralympic games. At the rate that he is going I am sure that he will have great success.   I have met Rick on three separate occasions this past year and have enjoyed his calming, focused, and motivational persona.  I am very impressed that at the age of 44 he is in top physical shape and competing so successfully.  There has been a mentality that only the young and up- and- coming are having great success.  Rick’s recent success have quickly squashed this mentality, and I applaud him for doing so.

To see the full story please click here

Source:  Orillia Packet and Times

http://www.orilliapacket.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2199498

Cheetah Legs

Still today a controversial topic is weather or not certain prosthetics’ are so advanced that they actually provide an amputee with an advantage over able bodied athletes when in competition.  There has been a long standing debate for the last many years in regards to weather or not Oscar Pistorious aka “Blade Runner” has a technical advantage when running with his Cheetah Legs.  The “Cheetah Leg” for those who do not know about them are J-shaped carbon fiber prosthetics designed for running.  They have been on the market for many years now, and many amputees have benefited greatly from them.

A report in the journal of Applied Physiology came out recently by human performance researchers Peter Weyand of Southern Methodist University and Matthew Bundle from the University of Wyoming.  In this report they concluded that the Cheetah Legs worn by Pistorious enhance sprint running speeds by 15-30 percent.  To see the whole article about this story and to learn more please click here

As one would guess the Ossur company that manufactures the Cheetah prosthetic would argue that their product will not necessarily give amputees an advantage over able bodied athletes.  Ossurs’ defense is that when Weyand and Bundle conducted their research they looked at the prosthetic and the individual as two separate entities and not as a whole.  In doing this the results can/will be different from person to person.

I don’t know what you guys think about this.  I have never used the Cheetah leg.  Have any of you guys used the leg? Do you think you may or may not have an advantage over able bodied runners when using the prosthetic.  These thoughts I am sure are different from person to person, but I am quite curious, so please let me know.  One thing I know for sure is that if I have the opportunity to save up money or gain sponsorship to have a Cheetah leg so I can run again, I would surly not pass up the opportunity regardless of weather or not I have a technical advantage.  Besides it’s not like I am saying I want to be able to compete in the regular Olympics.  This is a whole new debate in and of itself.

Let me know what you think!

Source: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/bionic-supermen-of-sport/article1376569/

The World's Most Advanced Prosthetic Foot Coming Soon (Source: Forbes.com)

Over the past few years, Herr’s mind has been working overtime trying to push the limits of prosthetic technology.  Late next year, iWalk, a company that was started up by Herr in 2006 plans to release the PowerFoot One, the world’s most advanced robotic ankle and foot.

Most recent prosthetic feet are normally fixed at a 90 degree angle and do not always allow for complete ease of motion.  The new PowerFoot will be equipped with three internal microprocessors and 12 sensors that measure force, inertia, etc.  The PowerFoot will be able to automatically adjusts its angle, stiffness, and damping nearly 500 times per second.  The PowerFoot will be able to adjust for slopes, dip the toe naturally when walking down stairs, and will even dangle appropriately when the user sits and crosses his legs.  The PowerFoot employs the same sort of sensory feedback   loops that the human nervous system uses.

To learn more and read the whole article about Herr and his endeavors  please click here

To check out the iWalk website please click here

My main question to this is how much will it cost, and will be be waterproof?  Anyone got any guesses?

In the start of the article Herr talks of a time when he got out of his car and went to run somewhere.  A police offer stopped him and asked him what entitled him to park in the disabled parking space because Herr looked limitless, with no disability.  Herr’s story brings me back to a time when I had a disabled parking sticker.  I don’t normally take advantage of the sticker and try to save the parking spaces for those who need them more then I do.   But on this particular day I had a sore on my leg and opted to park in a disabled parking spot.  No sooner had I done so, I had a wee little old lady come up to me yelling at me for taking the the spot. She felt that she was more disabled then I and that she deserved to part there more then I.  I guess you had to be there to truly appreciate what all happened.  I assure you it was comical.  Some of you I am sure have had similar situations.  If you are a leg amp, sometimes with pants on it is hard for the public to quickly pick up on the fact that you have an amputation.

Source:

http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2009/1214/breakthroughs-mit-herr-robotics-step-beyond-human.html

A view of the Central Coast

Sorry for the lack of posts in the past few weeks guys.  I was held up in a large move from Canada to start a new job in the Central Coast of California.  The good new is that I am back and I hope to continue to provide you all with current up-to-date information with what is going on in the world of prosthetics, amputee sports, news, etc.  As time goes on please contact me if you have any constructive criticism to help make this site better for you guys.

Cheers, and I look forward to months ahead.

PS.. all you amps out there who live in the Central Cost of California are super lucky!  From what I have experienced so far this is a sweet place to live with lots of opportunities for great outdoor activities to participate in.

Amy Palmerio-Winters, one of the best

Amy Palmerio-Winters - female amputee long-distance runner. Picture from seattletimes.nwsource.com

Amy Palmerio-Winters is  a below knee amputee who is a world record holder in over 10 events in running and triathlon.  She recently set a new record in long distance running. In Kansas, on October 10-11, 2009 Amy became the first female amputee to complete a 100 mile race.  In this race she won the woman’s division and finished in 8th place overall.

Fighting strong winds and cool weather, Amy completed the 100 miles in 18 hours and 54 minutes.  Amy competed as a member of Team Step Ahead Prosthetics.  Amy works as director of Team Step Ahead.  She coordinates sports programs for amputee athletes, and acts as a coach and mentor for young amputees.  To learn more about Amy please visit her website by clicking  here

I can’t help but think that there could be so many more great amputee athletes competing if it weren’t for the costs associated with prosthetics.  If you are lucky to land a great sponsor then with proper skill and training one may be able to be truly successful in competition.  The sad part is that many amputees are not even able to show their skills because they never have the opportunity and/or they cannot afford to either take time off work to train, or they simply cannot afford the technical prosthetics that are sometimes needed for competition.  A sad cycle really.  What do you guys think?

Source:  http://www.prweb.com/releases/amputee/runner/prweb3038924.htm

Why are we really fighting this war?

I came across this poster a little while ago.  I was hesitant to post it, but the simple fact is that there may be many truths to this poster.

The beauty of being individuals is that all of us are entitled to our own thoughts and opinions about life, war, etc.  War and amputations are quite common in today’s wars, especially with road side bombs being so prevalent.  On Tuesday January 16, 2007 the 500th amputation related to the war in Iraq returned home from combat.  It is now well into 2009 and the 500 mark is sure to have been well surpassed.

Fortunately, compared to the war in Vietnam, the numbers of amputees have been reduced significantly due to increased technology, and combative equipment.  In the Vietnam war only 75% of amputees survived.  In our present war in Iraq about 90% of amputees survive.

Being one who in not all too keen on war or even mild confrontation for that matter, I still can’t help to think for what reasons are were fighting this war? Are they truly just?  Is the pain and suffering from both sides involved really worth it in the end?

We are taught to study our history so we can learn, and not repeat our past mistakes.  Somehow I think we are doing a pretty poor job at learning.  Amputees are continually returning from duty, and I am sure some of them are posing similar questions.

Sorry if my thoughts are in opposition of your personal thought.  I can be a little tangential sometimes.  I am not trying to change your personal views, but merely pose a few questions.  Leave a comment and let me know if you think I am way off on my thoughts.

Source:  About Amputations: After Birth: The War in Iraq (ThinkQuest2007)