Patient Success Stories

O&P Professionals Help Build Extraordinary Lives
- Updated:AOPA Member and Patient featured on NBC's Today Show
- ABC News Reports on Recovering Veterans
- Turning Prostheses Into Works of Art
- Chicago-Area Amputee, An Ironman
- US Government Releases New Diabetes Findings
   
How We Are Developing the Best Care For Our Patients
- AOPA Member Assists Amputees in Washington
- AOPA Member in Midland, Texas Checks-out Cutting-Edge Technology
- AOPA Member Announces Accreditation
- AOPA Member Helps University Quarterback
- AOPA Member Profiled in Voice of San Diego
- AOPA Member Profiled in Flathead Beacon
- AOPA Member Touch Bionics Expanding to Meet Demand for i-LIMB

AOPA Member and Patient featured on NBC's Today Show
“As Edwards experimented with the new hand, Troy Farnsworth, his prosthetist from Hanger Prosthetics and Orthotics, glowed with pride. From the day the company heard what happened to Edwards in June and decided to give the plucky young man a $100,000 prosthetic arm called an i-Limb, Farnsworth has been amazed at how quickly Edwards has learned to use it. He was doing things the first day with the arm and hand that most people take weeks to learn.” More coverage here and here.

ABC News Reports on Recovering Veterans
ABC News posted an extensive feature by Audrey Grayson about the efforts of the military to get veterans who have lost limbs in Iraq and Afghanistan to get involved in athletics including adaptive surfing, sailing, kayaking, cycling and track and field.

Turning Prostheses Into Works of Art
"I'm the original," said Horkey, who's just started a business to turn clients' artificial legs and arms into pieces of customized art. "I want to add color to people's lives." Horkey lost the lower half of one of his own legs in a terrible motorcycle accident in 1985. Two of the prostheses he uses today have fiery orange and yellow flames shooting up the sides. Both resemble detailing that might be found on souped-up cars, and Horkey actually calls on some of those car-detailing techniques in his business, Global Tattoo Orthotic Prosthetic Innovations.

Chicago-Area Amputee, An Ironman
Rigsby, who uses prosthetic legs, made headlines last year as the first double amputee to finish the grueling Hawaii Ironman triathlon -- a 2.4-mile swim, followed by a 112-mile bike ride and a 26.2-mile marathon run.

US Government Releases New Diabetes Findings
New government estimates show that nearly 24 million people in the United States have diabetes, an increase of more than 3 million in two years. This means that nearly 8 percent of the U.S. population has diabetes, mostly the type-2 diabetes linked with obesity, poor diet and a lack of exercise, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

AOPA Member Assists Amputees in Washington State
In Olympia, Washington AOPA member Kevin Carroll provided free prosthetic evaluations to local amputees.

AOPA Member in Midland, Texas Checks-out Cutting-Edge Technology
Representatives from Otto Bock HealthCare have been touring the United States giving demonstrations of the company’s C-Leg. In Midland, Texas they visited AOPA member Don Driver at Allen Orthotics & Prosthetics and Betty Brushehan and Santos Carrillo tried the C-Leg.

AOPA Member Announces Accreditation
The Orthotics & Prosthetics Center at the University of Michigan Health System has been awarded a three-year accreditation by the American Board for Certification in Orthotics, Prosthetics & Pedorthics, Inc.

AOPA Member Helps University Quarterback
Wilkerson joined forces with Fillauer, a local manufacturer of prosthetics and orthotic products, and together they matched Wilkerson’s design with the high-tech materials that Fillauer uses and produced a custom-made, light-but-strong ankle brace.
.

AOPA Member Profiled in Voice of San Diego
Joe Crase’s coworkers were his toughest crowd. The orthotics and prosthetics practitioner dreamed of having his own business, his own practice. But then he found something more immediate to scratch his entrepreneurship itch. A couple of years ago, the certified cervical spine orthotist quit his day job, leased a warehouse in Spring Valley, filled a 6,500 square foot room with seven huge inflatable bounce houses and opened a birthday party business for kids: Airtime.

AOPA Member Profiled in Flathead Beacon
Kendall Carpenter’s philosophy on animal prosthetics is simple. “If someone asks me to do it,” he said, “I’ll do it. There’s no reimbursement for it, except that we’re here to help things.” At Glacier Prosthetic Care, which practices both prosthetics and orthotics, Carpenter believes he has fulfilled his longing to do meaningful work. He works hard with a small staff: himself, his wife Gina, who helps manage the business and does post-mastectomy care, and an office administrator, Chrystelle Armstrong. His practice is one of two prosthetics offices in the valley and one of a handful in the state.

AOPA Member Touch Bionics Expanding to Meet Demand for i-LIMB
In order to better meet marketplace demand for its bionic hand, Touch Bionics is establishing a subsidiary in the United States. According to Touch Bionics CEO, Stuart Mead,  “Having a stronger US presence enables Touch Bionics to better serve its growing network of partner clinics in America, the company’s biggest market.”

Need more information about the O&P profession?
Or, do you need to speak with an expert in the field?
Contact Steven Rybicki at (571) 431-0876, ext. 235 or srybicki@AOPAnet.org.