Similar to Day 1, we had 4 amputees to work with starting from 8 am clear to 3 pm. What we did was swapped the amputees knee out for the Genium and had them trial run it than swapped them back into their previous knee.
I had the privilege to work with 2 veterans and 2 others who were amputated to to a bad accident.
Both veterans were such a pleasure to work with and loved the knew. One gentleman was amputated from WWII and was so uplifting and motivated, it was a true pleasure to listen to his stories he shared with me of being an amputee and being a full part of the growth of technology!
The third gentleman I worked with in the afternoon was a cross country runner who endured a terrible infection that lead to many surgeries with the final result being his above knee amputation. He was amputated at an early age as well and now being in his 50s all he's wanted is to run again, but has not had a prosthetic that e could trust to do so. Once we swapped his legs we took him outside to try in out and he at first was very apprehensive, so nervous and overall scared to trust the knee enough to place any of his body weight into. I then walked around with him and coached him through using the knee and he slowly became more comfortable. I then brought with up a short grassy hill that was wet to walk down with him. He was terrified at first because his other knee would collapse on him causing him to fall every time. So I again coached him on how to ride the knee down and as he tried with me he threw out his arms to balance and I grabbed onto his hand and held it as we descending the hill together. Once reaching the bottom he was so relieved he was instantly brought to tears.. I was so touched! This man has not been able to walk comfortably for 30 years and to see him light up and cry because he is so thankful is Priceless. It brought me back to the time where I took my very first steps after loosing my leg.. Brings me to tears every time including now!
I am so excited for these amputees to hopefully receive their own Genium cause I know just by working with then for 2 hours, it will change their lives so much for the better!
After the last patient we said our goodbyes and loaded up for the 5 hour drive to Philadelphia. Slept the entire drive and got to the hotel around 730 where once we checked in we left for dinner by 8. We went to the sushi restaurant The Fat Salmon, which was amazing!
Since my accident I made a promise to myself to never give up, never say never and never look back! With food I wanted to not hold back and try everything at least once giving myself a chance to experience something that I came so close to never having the chance to. By holding myself to this I no love All food in some sort of way, especially sushi! For this trip I finally tried eel for the first time and oh my goodness have I been missing out!! Following a great dinner we went back to the hotel for the night where I had the chance to sleep in that following morning.
No comments:
Post a Comment