Jim Abbott: When what's right in front comes from what's been left behind

"Some of you may know that my career statistics weren't that great. There were some incredible highlights and some agonizing low lights. The truth is, I won't go to the hall of fame. But if a career can be measured by special moments, lessons learned, and a connection with people then I would stack mine up with oneness. Maybe there is an obligation to share. To try and learn from the experiences life puts us through." - Jim Abbott



Jim Abbott was born on September 19, 1967 in Flint, Michigan without a right hand. This didn’t stop him from always doing his best. He worked hard and overcame every obstacle in his path. From playing in the Olympics to playing in in major league baseball, Jim Abbott never gave up. Through hard work and perseverance, he was able to live just like everyone else and do what many people never get the opportunity to do.
Back to top

Early Life
Jim Abbott started his sports career in high school. He was a pitcher on his school’s baseball team and a quarterback on the school’s football team. In order to play baseball, Jim would balance the glove on his right arm. He would then pitch with his left hand. As part of his follow-through, Jim would slide the glove onto his left arm, enabling him to field any balls that came back. This method would be used by Jim Abbott throughout his career. After high school, Jim was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays. Instead of taking this offer, he decided to go to the University of Michigan on a full baseball scholarship. From there he would go on to be a fabulous pitcher with a record of 26-8.
Back to top

Amateur Years
After three years at the University of Michigan, Jim Abbott joined the USA baseball team. In 1987, he became the first American pitcher to beat the Cuban team in Cuba. As a result, the United States team got a silver medal at the Pan-American Games. The following year, Jim Abbott was able to go to the 1988 Olympics as an amateur baseball player. Jim pitched a complete, game seven against Japan with a final score of 5-3. By winning this game, Jim Abbott led the USA Team to earn their first gold medal in Olympic Baseball history. Jim Abbott was quite the amateur baseball player.
Back to top







MLB Years
Following the 1999 Olympics, Jim Abbott signed with the California Angels. Abbott continued to play baseball for ten years. Over the course of the years Jim was a teammate with the California Angels, New York Yankees, Chicago White Sox, and Milwaukee Brewers. Jim achieved many accomplishments as a major league pitcher. In 1993, for example, he pitched a no-hitter at Yankee Stadium while wearing pinstripes. This was the first time any pitcher had pitched a no-hitter in Yankee Stadium for the last ten years. In another game, Jim Abbott had a thirteen strike-out game! He accomplished much as a major league pitcher.
Back to top






Conclusion
Jim Abbott is currently a motivational speaker. He encourages people to do their best and perservere despite hardships and disabilites. Looking back at Jim’s past, it is obvious that he needed perseverance and dedication to make it into the major league. Jim beat the odds and became an inspiration baseball player. Jim Abbott can teach everyone a lesson. Despite differences and challenges, anything is possible. Never give up on your dream because it can come true, just as Jim Abbott’s did.
Back to top

Alex Zanardi Unstoppable

Alessandro "Alex" Zanardi, (born October 23, 1966), is an Italian ex-Formula One driver who is better known for his dominance of CART series during the late 1990s. More recently he has attracted widespread praise for his racing comeback in the aftermath of a crash which resulted in him losing both legs.









Alex Zanardi was born in Bologna. His sister was a promising swimmer until her death in an automobile collision.

Zanardi began racing karts aged 13. In 1988, he joined the Italian Formula 3 series, becoming a championship contender by 1990. In 1991, he moved up to the Formula 3000 series with the Il Barone Rampante team, who were themselves newcomers to the series. Winning on his F3000 debut, he went on to score two more wins that season, en route to second in the championship.
Formula One part one
By the end of 1991 he had also been blooded in Formula One: two starts for Jordan his reward for a strong F3000 campaign.



For 1992 Zanardi had to be content with guest drives for Minardi, replacing the injured Christian Fittipaldi. In the off-season, he tested for Benetton, but contracted with Lotus for 1993. Zanardi compared reasonably to teammate Johnny Herbert and was important in fine-tuning the team's active suspension system, scoring his first ever F1 point at the Brazilian Grand Prix. However, his season ended prematurely after he suffered a terrible crash during practice for the Belgian Grand Prix.









Still injured, Zanardi missed the beginning of the 1994 season, but he returned in the Spanish Grand Prix, replacing Pedro Lamy, who had been hurt in a testing crash. However, that year's Lotus was highly unreliable, and Zanardi failed to score a single point or qualify higher than 13th. When Lotus' F1 effort collapsed at the end of the year, Zanardi spent a brief time in sports cars in 1995, his Formula One career seemingly over.
Champ Car
In 1996, Zanardi made the switch to CART, having won a seat at Chip Ganassi Racing. The team's race engineer Mo Nunn advised Chip against signing him, as he believed Italian drivers were too prone to mistakes. Tellingly, Mo later signed Alex for his own team.

He rapidly became one of the series' most popular drivers. He took pole for his second race, although his first win didn't come until mid-season. In total he won three races in his rookie season, finishing second in the championship behind team-mate Jimmy Vasser (who did not win after round 5 of the season) and being named Champcar rookie of the year. He would win the championship for Ganassi in both 1997 and 1998, bringing home twelve victories.

A win came at Laguna Seca for the final race of the 1996 season, where he conducted a highly risky overtaking move at the Corkscrew corner (known to many racing fans as 'The Pass', on race leader Bryan Herta, having fought his way through the field. After winning a race, Zanardi was fond of spinning his car around in tight circles, leaving circular donut-shaped patterns of tyre rubber on the track; this would eventually become a popular means of celebrating race wins all across America.
Formula One part 2





Zanardi's CART success caught the eye of Sir Frank Williams, who inked him to a three-year contract in 1999. In pre-season testing, he was fast; however, everything went downhill from there. Plagued by numerous reliability issues, Zanardi also made a series of crucial errors, his F1 return in Australia a prime example. He was consistently outpaced by team-mate Ralf Schumacher and rumours spread that he would not last long at Williams. A late season up-turn in speed seemed to signal a breakthrough. At both Spa and Monza he looked competitive, but problems cost him a good result. At Monza he had qualified an impressive fourth and briefly held second, but brake difficulties curtailed his pace and he dropped to seventh. The season ended with Zanardi failing to maintain his Monza form; he was dropped for 2000. Jenson Button replaced him.

Prosthetic Center of Excellence dons new legs for Donny the Wonderdog

Donny the Chihuahua is almost like any other dog. Almost. He’s got two eyes, two ears and two legs.



Born to a backyard breeder, Donny’s hind legs are that of a normal dog, but his front legs are little more than stumps. It’s a condition rehabilitation therapist Maria Shinas has been working overtime to improve.





















“We’re just walking him, trying to get better gait,” said Shinas.










Shinas is just one in a team of veterinary volunteers working with Donny through extensive therapy.



“At the shelter we wanted him to be more mobile and have a better quality of life,” NSPCA volunteer Jean McCusker explains



That quality is being realized with the help of therapy tools like an underwater treadmill that strengthens Donny’s trunk, and exercises to increase his range of motion. But perhaps the most unusual tools are the new legs that are in the works for him.








Kevin Bidwell normally makes custom prosthetics for human amputees.

“I own a lot of animals, or have animals as pets, but I've never built legs for one,” said Bidwell.

He says having a canine for a client has been rewarding, but it has its challenges.

“Donny tries to eat these as you can see, which is another problem I've never run into in the past; my patients previously never tried to eat their prosthetics.” said Bidwell.

Having lost one of his own legs in a motorcycle accident 20 years ago, Bidwell felt a special bond with Donny.

“I thought I was going to be disabled and I never felt disabled after I got my prosthesis,” said Bidwell.











It’s a feeling Donny will likely never understand, and that's just the way those that love him want it to be.








Web story by Courtney Holmes

When a California Fire Department hired Glenn Malmskog little did they realize they would be making history. According to State Fire Marshal records, Mr. Malmskog is the first amputee full duty City Firefighter in the history of California. A member of the International Association of Bomb Technicians and Investigators as well as the Screen Actors Guild, Mr. Malmskog strongly believes in civic duty and personal responsibility. He first gained experience in Texas as a Firefighter/Paramedic in the early 80s. He continued working in public service as a Deputy Sheriff /Paramedic until 1990 when he started his stunt career. Working exclusively in film and television for 8 years, he became SAG eligible in 1996 and joined the Guild in 1999. Just prior to joining SAG Mr. Malmskog injured his knee while working on a film in West Texas, and although after surgery he recovered fully from his initial injury, a painful degenerative bone disease related to the 18 months of relative immobility had infected his ankle resulting in his leg being amputated in March of 2000. Mr. Malmskog is looking forward to continuing his career as a Professional Stuntman while he attends California Fire and EMT school. He hopes he will serve as an inspiration to other disabled persons around the world to reach out and achieve their dreams.


COMEBACK: A movie-set accident cost William Glenn Malmskog his lower leg but didn't stunt his career.

BY RICHARD BROOKS
THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE


RUNNING SPRINGS--Surgeons cut off William Glenn Malmskog's lower right leg last year, but the veteran stuntman returned to work -- and recently became a volunteer firefighter.

"I could have said my career's over . . . and cried myself to sleep every night," said the 40-year-old divorced father of three. "Instead, I chose to fight. And I hope my struggle and my fight can serve as an inspiration to other lower-limb amputees."

Malmskog began training this month with 17-member Arrowbear Lake Fire Department, just east of Running Springs. Spokesmen for the state Fire Marshal's Office and California Professional Fire Fighters said there are few, if any, other amputee firefighters in the state.

"I think he's going to be an asset to our department," said Chief Seth Burt. "He teaches karate, he's a stuntman and he worked for law enforcement and fire previously. He seems to be able to follow direction very well. And because he has prior experience, he's already ahead of the game."

From lawman to stuntman

In the early 1980s, Malmskog was a volunteer firefighter in the Fort Worth-area community of Colleyville, Texas. During the late '80s, he became a deputy sheriff in the same region, assigned to jail duties.

"My ex didn't like me being with the sheriff's department," he said. "I was real intense. I tried to save the marriage and left the department."

He gravitated to stunt work, starting with amateur Wild West gunfight troupes and graduating to television work, including "Walker, Texas Ranger." Today, his credits include a variety of TV shows and eight films, including "Buffy the Vampire Slayer."

His leg problems began in December 1996 while he and another stuntman were running together in a scene for a Chinese kung-fu Western.

"He (accidentally) clipped me and swept my leg out from under me," Malmskog said. "I came down on my knees and just exploded my right knee."

A grim choice

Despite knee surgery, Malmskog never fully recovered. Then he fell down a flight of stairs in 1999 outside his apartment in Texas. Again he had surgery, but more problems developed.

"The bone began to degrade," he said.

His doctor gave him a choice: Fuse the ankle and live with the pain, or lose the leg. Fearful that amputation would ruin his career, Malmskog sought the advice of a stuntman who had lost a leg.

"He told me not to be afraid of it," Malmskog said. "They had really high-tech legs that would be able to return most of my function. And by losing a leg, I wouldn't completely lose my opportunity to work as a stuntman.

"In other words, (stunt) coordinators weren't going to be afraid to hire me just because I was an amputee."

Doctors sawed off his leg below the knee in March 2000. Last August, he received his first artificial leg. And last November, he began working on the soon-to-be-released film "Omega Code 2."

Asked if he could run in that film, Malmskog immediately said, "Sure."

"I had no clue whether I would be able to run," he said. "But I wasn't about to make the (stunt) coordinator look bad and say, `No, I'm disabled.' "

So he ran.

Back to firefighting

He has been working intermittently ever since. Among his stunts: high falls, crashing a motorcycle into a forklift and being set ablaze.

In April, Malmskog moved to the San Bernardino Mountains and applied to be a firefighter. Most full-time departments would have rejected him, Malmskog said.

"While anything can happen . . . the current physical aptitude requirements for paid firefighters are challenging for any person, and it would be an extraordinarily difficult challenge to overcome for anybody who is missing an extremity," said Carroll Willis of the California Professional Fire Fighters. "Obviously, volunteers are not subject to the same . . . standards."

The Arrowbear department's doctor certified that Malmskog is physically capable of meeting the job description for firefighters. Chief Burt decided to give him a chance.

"So far, he's done everything fine," said training officer Paul Miller.

Malmskog said he's thankful to Burt for the chance to prove himself. And he has a blunt comeback for skeptics.

"Try to keep up with me. I'm out here hiking and running these mountain roads, almost on a daily basis," he said. "I don't ask anybody to make concessions for me being an amputee. I do everything required of me or any other firefighter."

And if he can do it, he wants other amputees to know they can regain their lives, too.

"If you're 65 and have lost your leg to diabetes, don't curl up and say my life is over," Malmskog said. "Play golf. Play with the grandkids."

It's a message that he believes is just as important for non-disabled people.

"Day to day, we hold on to the illusion we're going to have perfect health," said Malmskog. "Anyone, at any time, can become disabled, whether it's the 14-year-old boy who is diagnosed with bone cancer, or the 40-year-old businessman or woman who is crossing Wilshire and gets hit by a car. The human body is very fragile."

Richard Brooks can be reached at rbrooks@pe.com or at (909) 890-4452.

The son of a Welsh army officer, Tom Whittaker worked as a rig diver in the North Atlantic and as a night club bouncer in Gibraltar. In 1976 he arrived in the U.S. having worked passage delivering a 65 foot yacht across the Atlantic.

Pursuing his vision of becoming a world class mountaineer, he quickly established himself, taking on climbs like a winter ascent of the North Face of the Matterhorn, Mt. McKinley, and the nose of El Capitan in Yosemite Valley.

Then on Thanksgiving Day of 1979, Tom Whittaker’s life as he knew it came to an end.

Shortly after completing a Master of Arts degree at Idaho State University in Pocatello, an out of control vehicle swerved into his lane striking his VW bus head on.




With two shattered legs and one severed foot, Whittaker refused pain medication in order to talk with the surgeon. His tenacity paid off. The original prognosis to amputate both legs was delayed.

Instead he emerged from surgery with two severely damaged knees - including the removal of his right kneecap - and the amputation of his right foot.

Having led a life of extreme adventure and outdoor pursuits, including a stint as an Outward Bound instructor, Tom was now faced with the seemingly impossible task of reinventing himself.



Tom painfully and slowly put his life back together. He earned another Masters degree and founded the Cooperative Wilderness Handicapped Outdoor Group (C.W. HOG). By harnessing the power of civic responsibility and volunteerism, he put the devastating lessons he learned to work for others. In the process Tom found a home and in 1986 became an American citizen.










Married with two young daughters, Whittaker spends his time between Granville Associates, his motivational speaking and corporate training business, and his WIND HORSE LEGACY, a charitable trust benefitting disabled people worldwide.

Aimee Mullins--With The Right Legs You Can't Keep a Good Woman Down

Aimee Mullins(born 1976 in Allentown,Pennsylvania) is an American athlete, actress, and fashion model best known for her extraordinary collegiate-level athletic accomplishments, despite a disability that resulted in the amputation of both of her legs.She was born with fibular hemimelia (missing fibula bones) and had both of her legs amputated below the knee when she was just one year old. While attending Georgetown University she competed against able-bodied athletes in NCAA Division I track and field events and set Paralympic records in 1996 in Atlanta in the 100-meter dash and the long jump. She says she will have realised one of her ambitions when people describe her as "Aimee Mullins, the model", rather than "Aimee Mullins, the disabled model".


Aimee's most recent film project is the upcoming Into the Woods, scheduled for theatrical release in 2010.
Her film debut was a starring role in the highly-acclaimed film by contemporary artist Matthew Barney, Cremaster 3, first presented in the US at the Guggenheim Museum in 2003. Cremaster 3 is "an astonishing work of creativity," and was lauded by The Guardian as "the first truly great piece of cinema to be made in a fine art context since Dali and Bunuel filmed Un Chien Andalou in 1929. It is one of the most imaginative and brilliant achievements in the history of avant-garde cinema."

Aimee first received worldwide media attention as an athlete. Born without fibulae in both legs, Aimee's medical prognosis was bleak; she would never walk and indeed would spend the rest of her life using a wheelchair. In an attempt for an outside chance at independent mobility, doctors amputated both her legs below the knee on her first birthday. The decision paid off. By age two, she had learned to walk on prosthetic legs, and spent her childhood doing the usual athletic activities of her peers: swimming, biking, softball, soccer, and skiing, always alongside "able-bodied" kids.

After graduating high school with honors, Aimee was one of three students in the US chosen for a full academic scholarship from the Department of Defense, and at age 17 became the youngest person to hold a top-secret security clearance at the Pentagon. She worked there as an intelligence analyst during her summer breaks.

It was at this time that she rediscovered her love of competitive sports. While a dean's list student at the prestigious School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, she set her sights on making the US Team for the 1996 Atlanta Games. She enlisted the expertise of Frank Gagliano, one of the country's most respected track coaches. Through this partnership, she became the first woman with a "disability" to compete in the NCAA, doing so on Georgetown's nationally-ranked Division I track team. Outfitted with woven carbon-fiber prostheses that were modeled after the hind legs of a cheetah, she went on to set World Records in the 100 meter, the 200 meter, and the long jump, sparking a frenzy over the radical design of her prototype sprinting legs.





After a profile in Life magazine showcased her in the starting blocks at Atlanta, the world took notice. Aimee soon landed a 10-page feature in the inaugural issue of Sports Illustrated for Women, which led to her accepting numerous invitations to speak at international design conferences. Being introduced to this discourse relating to aesthetic principles, she became interested in issues relating to body image and how fashion advertising impacted standard notions of femininity and beauty. In 1999, Aimee made her runway debut in London at the invitation of one of the world's most celebrated fashion designers, Alexander McQueen. Walking alongside the supermodels of the world, Aimee's groundbreaking, triumphant turn captured the attention of the fashion media, propelling her onto the magazine covers of ID and Dazed and Confused. After making her mark in the fashion magazine standards of Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, W, Glamour, and Elle, she was also named as one of People magazine's "50 Most Beautiful People in the World."





An influential voice in today's culture, she has been named as one of Esquire's "Women We Love," one of Jane magazine's "10 Gutsiest Women," one of Sports Illustrated's "Coolest Girls in Sport," and was celebrated as the "Hottest Muse" in Rolling Stone's annual Hot List.






In addition to her professional career, Aimee serves on numerous boards and spends much of her time assisting various non-profit organizations, most notably the Women's Sports Foundation (WSF). Aimee served for years as Vice-President for J.O.B., the nation's oldest non-profit employment service for persons with disabilities, founded in 1947 by Eleanor Roosevelt, Orin Lehman, and others. After serving as a Trustee for the WSF, founded by Billie Jean King, she was elected as the foundation's President, a position she stewarded from 2007 to 2009.





Already at a young age, Aimee's impact on modern society and her influence on future generations is undeniable. Her likeness has been immortalized in exhibits at institutions such as the Smithsonian, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the NCAA Hall of Fame, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Tate Modern, the Track and Field Hall of Fame, and the Women's Museum, where she is honored for her contribution to sport among the "Greatest American Women of the 20th Century." She resides in New York City.

Heather Mills-- Amputation inspires not despairs

In 1993 Heather Mills, a successful model, was involved in a road accident with a police motorcycle. Her injuries included crushed ribs, punctured lung, multiple fractures of the pelvis and the loss of her left leg below the knee.

Heather, also a successful businesswoman, had already had an extraordinary life story, and it has resulted in her being awarded many outstanding accolades and awards. Former PM John Major presented her with the Gold Award for Outstanding Achievement; The Times presented her with their Human Achievement Award and the British Chamber of Commerce not only named her Outstanding Young Person of the Year but also named an award after her - the Heather Mills Award. For her charity work in 1996 she received a nomination for the Nobel Prize.

Heather had an unusual and traumatic upbringing - her Mother left when she was nine and Heather was left to look after her siblings and Father. By the time she entered her teens she was his full time PA, organising his social events, designing and publicising his various business endeavours. He ended up in prison and Heather left home.

Her first job was at a croissant shop. The Manager specifically said she could eat as much as she liked, she ate 25 in one day and was promptly sacked. She bought the rights to and later sold two American products. First was the ,Stick on Bra, and then came ,Frozen Yoghurts,. She later sold the rights on for a substantial profit.

Heather turned to modeling after winning The Mirror's, Dreamgirl, contest and did this for several years. Due to the unreliable income she set up her most successful business venture, ExSell Management UK and later sold the company for an offer that was too good to refuse.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Slnw4KPqlEc


1990 she went to Yugoslavia for a holiday and moved there permanently. She witnessed the outbreak of Civil War. After which she helped set up a refugee crisis centre travelling from Slovenia to Bosnia-Herzegovina negotiating with military and government agencies for hospitalisation, housing and re-sheltering in the local communities. For two years she commuted between Slovenia and England keeping up her modelling career to earn money to help the refugees. She established the Heather Mills Trust to raise money for the young disabled victims of the war.


After her accident, she instigated a nation-wide appeal for the donation of unwanted prostheses and employed the services of the inmates at Brixton Prison to dismantle the limbs and make them ready for transport. October 1994, just a year after her accident, the first convoy of artificial limbs and medical equipment left for Zagreb. Over 22,000 amputees and victims of landmine explosions have been helped since that convoy. After this, she wrote her autobiography ,Out on a Limb, which landed straight onto The Times best seller list, the proceeds going to the Trust.




Heather's voice is heard in the media and also the political sphere - in Westminster and the UN she is well respected for her stance on landmines. In addition to the above she has managed to run a half-marathon (in Newcastle), as well as her media, modelling and charity work. She also hopes to work in politics at some point in the future.






It is heard to believe that someone so young has achieved so much and is continuing to do so. Heather herself sees her accident as happening for a reason, and as well as her charitable achievements, she has brought a motivational tale of remarkable inspiration and hope to many people through her personal appearances and public speaking.

Ian Gregson was born to John and Barbara Gregson in St Helens, Lancashire, England on September 2nd, 1962. For his first fifteen years Ian lead a perfectly normal life for a working-class English school kid. Growing up in the seventies, he enjoyed music, football and the things that teenagers got up to back then. Ian excelled at running, he won his school cross-country championship and competed at the Lancashire Junior Track and Field championships in 1978.

However on May 17th, 1978 during his school lunch hour, Ian was involved in a terrible accident that resulted in the loss of his right leg above the knee. Undaunted by this physical setback Ian continued his involvement in track and field by taking up shot put and weight training. In September 1981 in an effort to escape Thatcher-ism Ian emigrated to Canada with his parents and brother.



On landing in Burnaby, British Columbia, the Gregson's found themselves in the middle of economic downturn. Unable to secure permanent employment, Ian gained national media attention in the fall of 1982 after completing the first ever Terry Fox Run in Port Coquitlam. Shortly thereafter, Ian began to focus on competing in disability sport events and in 1983 became Canada's top amputee athlete. In 1984 and 1988 Ian represented Canada at the Paralympics, in 1986 after receiving a 4th place at the World Championships in Sweden he became the first athlete with a disability in Canada to receive a post secondary athletic scholarship. In 1987 Ian received the Chevron Canada Award for Burnaby Post Secondary Sports. More



Whilst competing for Canada Ian returned to post-secondary education at VCC Langara and then later to receive his BA in Communications from Simon Fraser University. Ian was the first person in his family to recieve a degree.



After his years in academia, Ian moved on to work in the real world with Canada's largest communications company Rogers. After, three years and the realisation the Charles Dicken's method of management was alive and well in the 1990's, Ian formed his own company GB Communications. With this company Ian began freelance writing, web design and desktop publishing. It was in this period Ian wrote for numerous magazines ranging from regular columns in Canada's leading disability magazines to a controversial article on disability and sex in Larry Flynt's Hustler. As a result Ian gained a reputation as a writer who was not afraid to tackle uncomfortable issues. Ian's book Irresistible Force - A History of Disability Sport in Canada was published in 1998. The book took a serious look at the highs and lows of the Canadian disability sport movement over the last fifty years.

At this point Ian put his company on the back burner and he began work for one of Vancouver's more reputable ISP's, Axion Internet. In 2000 Ian returned to his Alma Mater at SFU to work for the Office of Research Services. In 2008 Ian left the confines of SFU to start a new career.

POLITICS

Ian's first introduction to politics came by a chance meeting with Svend Robinson on vacation in Mexico in 1988. Ian volunteered on Svend's campaign in 1992 and 1996, in fact Ian and his family were featured in Svend's advertising in the 96 election. However, in 1996 the provincial NDP cut back Pharmacare coverage [which pays for prosthetic legs] by 10%. Dismayed by this cutback to healthcare, Ian wrote to then Minister Responsible Joy MacPhail and in her terse reply Ian questioned his loyalty to the NDP overall. The NDP's performance from 96 onward solidified Ian's resolve in finding an alternate political voice.



Following the federal election of 2000 Ian attended the inaugural meeting of the Vancouver Hastings Green Party Constituency Association, at that first meeting he met the leader of the party Adriane Carr.



In 2001 Ian was selected as the Green Party of BC candidate for Vancouver Hastings and received 14.8% of the popular vote. Ian has since contributed his talents to various elections including municipal and federal and numerous by-elections. Ian was also a volunteer with the Citizens Initiative for Electoral Reform which included 4000 other volunteers who signed up 98,000 British Columbians in support of electoral reform. Ian recieved almost 9% of the vote in the 2005 BC election. In 2008 Ian ran for the WLP in the Vancouver Civic election and received over 10,000 votes.

More

Volunteer Work and Community Service
Practically since setting foot off the plane that brought him to Canada Ian has been volunteer for one good cause after another.
In 1982 Ian and another amputee formed the BC chapter of the Canadian Amputee Sports Association, an organisation Ian was a major part of until 1996.

Also in 1982 Ian joined the student radio station at Simon Fraser University, he served as DJ, Program Director, Station Manager and just about every other position until leaving to work at Rogers in 1990.

In 1992 Ian became the first person with a disability to chair the BC Sport and Fitness Council for the disabled [now BC Disability Sports]. This organisation is the umbrella group that organises the BC Disability Games in cooperation with a host community.

In 1996 Ian became a board member with the BC Coalition of People with disabilities, an advocate group for BC's disability population. In 1998 Ian joined the Gordie Howe disabled athletes Fund, it was here that Ian received his major inspiration for writing his book "Irresistible Force".

In 2001 Ian became a board member of the Simon Fraser University Alumni Association. In 2002 Ian volunteered his time at the monthly SFU Open Mic night which plays host to the young talented performers of Burnaby and Vancouver.

In 2003 Ian played a significant role in the NO vote for the 2010 Olympics. Ian was interviewed by local and national media as the only athlete that was voicing concerns over the 2010 Games. Today Ian is manager of the web site 2010watch.com the only real watchdog of the Vancouver Olympics.

Jessica Cox: Disabling Her Disability

The doctors don’t exactly know why Jessica was born without arms. Sonograms and other prenatal tests did not reveal this rare congenital condition. However, from infancy her feet became her hands. Like all children, she went through the various stages of development. She learned to feed herself and write with her feet. Throughout childhood, she participated in many activities including swimming, gymnastics, and tap dancing. Jessica started tae kwon-do when she was ten, earning her first black belt at fourteen in the International Tae Kwon-Do Federation. She rejoined American Tae Kwon-Do Association in college and earned a second black belt.




When first learning to drive, Jessica was encouraged to use special modifications. Even after her car was modified, she decided to remove them and drive without. She holds an unrestricted driver’s license.

As an undergraduate at the University of Arizona, Jessica attended classes taking notes with her feet. At 25 words per minute, Jessica was able to type out her papers with a regular computer keyboard on the floor.




Jessica’s greatest challenges are not the ordinary daily tasks required for her to live independently. Putting in contact lenses, washing and brushing her hair, and fixing breakfast in the morning are all tasks that come second-nature to her as they would to anyone else. Her greatest triumph in life stands far above any physical feat. It is her unrepentant regard for herself a whole person, her high degree of self-acceptance that gives her the freedom and power to insist that society accept her, too, just as she is. She has even obtained her pilots certificte and enjoys flying very much



With one foot manning the controls and the other delicately guiding the steering column, Cox, 25, soared to achieve a Sport Pilot certificate. Her certificate qualifies her to fly a light-sport aircraft to altitudes of 10,000 feet.

Paralympian categories help realize dreams

Vancouver - Olympic organizers who categorize athletes by gender and sometimes weight have it easy compared to their Paralympic counterparts.

At the Paralympics, medal competitors are grouped using a complex classification system that even the International Paralympic Committee's medical director admits is "a work in progress.''

Paralympic athletes are divided into six impairment groups to ensure - like Olympic competition - winning is determined by skill, fitness and mental focus.

The impairment groups are classified as amputation, cerebral palsy, visual impairment, spinal injury, intellectual disability, and "les autres,'' or "the others.''

The differing classifications allow Winter Paralympics sports like alpine skiing, cross-country skiing and biathlon to have separate sitting, standing, and visually-impaired gold medallists.

"Classification takes the ability of an athlete, considering his impairment and the limitations that go with the impairment, as the basis of grouping athletes into classes, into groups that have a certain degree of homogeneity,'' said Dr. Peter Van de Vliet, IPC medical and scientific director.

"That allows (athletes) to at least start on an equal basis so that the one athlete that excels in athletic performance is the gold medal winner.''





Amputee athletes have at least one major joint or part of an extremity missing and are classified on whether the impairment is an upper or lower limb. The location of the amputation - whether it's above or below the knee, for example - is also a factor.

Athletes who have cerebral palsy are organized based on the severity of their condition and the muscle groups it involves.

Those with spinal injuries are classified depending on where in the spine the injury occurred. Athletes with spina bifida, a birth defect in the spine, are included in the group.

Intellectually-disabled athletes won't compete in Vancouver but Van de Vliet said Paralympic officials have agreed they'll take part in four events in London in 2012.

"Les autres'' refers to athletes who have impairments that don't fit into the aforementioned categories.

It's up to teams of classifiers to assess each athlete's functional ability. That athlete can be tested numerous times throughout their career if their condition improves or worsens.

For alpine skiing, cross-country skiing and biathlon, athletes who compete in the standing class can have double arm or leg amputation, single arm or leg amputation, or equivalent impairments.

For the sitting class, athletes can have paraplegia or double leg amputation, while those hoping to compete in the visually-impaired events can have either no functional vision, three to five per cent vision, or no more than 10 per cent vision.

A mathematical formula is used to balance out the playing field in these events. An athlete's finish time is calculated with a formula that factors in the severity of the impairment.

As a result, the fastest time might not necessarily win the gold medal.

"I consider classification as a work in progress,'' Van de Vliet said.

The key, he said, is setting such guidelines well in advance of the Games so athletes aren't struck with last-minute surprises and can focus on their performance.

While some sports are only open to those with the same impairment, other sports, such as sledge hockey, allow athletes from different disability groups to compete together.




In some Summer Paralympics team sports, such as wheelchair basketball, athletes are given a score of one, two or three and the team is required to have a certain point requirement on the floor at all times.

That is not the case for Winter Paralympics team sports like sledge hockey and wheelchair curling.

Terrie Moore, co-chair of the Canadian Paralympic Committee's classification task force, said while the process remains complex, it's also as good as it's ever been.

"I think that classification is the cornerstone to Paralympic sport,'' she said. "It's what allows athletes with a variety of different impairments to participate in sports that they love and to excel.''

Moore said athletes who have neurological impairments can be among the most difficult to assess, while amputees tend to be the easiest.

She said the IPC has made tremendous strides in sport science, allowing far more athletes to live their Paralympic dreams than ever before.

"It's come a long way,'' she said.

"It was very simplistic before and actually excluded a lot of people with a variety of impairments.''

Yes, God, I Can! By Bonnie St. John Deane

During my growing-up years, I lived my life in a mental landscape that I created for myself. In my imagination, I was a strong and graceful runner. I was beautiful and popular, and I could be anything that I wanted to be.

In reality, I had been born with a stunted right leg. My left leg was fully developed and continued to grow, but my right leg was extremely underdeveloped and short. I was unable to walk normally until I was six years old-after I had had surgeries to stiffen my knee so that it wouldn't bend and to remove my right foot so that I could be fitted with an artificial leg.

Living in my imaginary world, I was able to control my thoughts and feelings while I was awake, but during the nights in the hospital, I would scream out in my sleep. A nurse would come to wake me from the nightmares so I could go back to sleep.

Much later in life, I understood what had caused the nightmares. It was only after my stepfather died when I was eighteen that I allowed myself to remember he had molested me. Feeling so much emotional pain and trauma during my early years, I had stuffed the memories of abuse into the darkest corners of my mind.

Escaping the Pain

I escaped the pain through reading and through living in my imagination. I read books at night after everybody else was asleep. I shut myself in the bathroom, turned on the light, and read on the floor. I read in the car and on the playground while other kids jumped rope and played kickball.

Then when I was eight years old, my mother gave me a brochure. On the cover was a silhouette of an amputee skier with this headline: "If I can do this, I can do anything!" I put the brochure away in a box where I kept a lock of my dog's hair and a rock from the Grand Canyon. I didn't realize it then, but the amputee pictured on the cover was showing me what I would someday be able to do.

In junior high school, I didn't feel popular or attractive. I wasn't good in sports, and I was always the last person picked when teams were chosen. The prayer chapel in the Episcopal school I attended became my sanctuary.

I was around fifteen when a friend invited me to go skiing with her and her family. She was kind and upbeat, never questioning that her one-legged friend could ski. This friend changed my life.

Living in the Real World

Resolving to step out of the mental landscape I was creating with my imagination, I began to live in the real world. I wanted to ski! When I first started, I lacked balance and strength, so I leaned over my heavy outrigger-style ski poles. I tried to race using regular poles, but I kept falling. Finally, I threw aside my ski poles, went to the "bunny," or beginners', hill, and learned how to ski with nothing in my hands.

Learning how to ski with just one ski and no poles, I gained a tremendous amount of strength and balance. Then I was able to ski with poles, planting them in the snow so that I could pop up into the air and twist. This was a very exhilarating, free way to ski. In competition, I had to use outriggers, but I learned that they were not a crutch; they were an incredible tool that helped me go all the way to the Olympics and win.

The joy and passion I felt while training for the Olympics helped me discover my spiritual strengths too. At times, I had felt as if I was using prayer as a crutch. Then as I began to reach out more and more to God, I understood that while prayer is an incredible tool that had helped me heal, I had some work of my own to do. Just as I had had to learn to work with the outriggers instead of leaning on them, I had to learn to work with divine power instead of leaning on God.





Releasing the Past to God

I have a wonderful husband now and a precious daughter, but when she turned four-the same age I was when I was molested-many painful memories came back to haunt me. There were times when I felt so down that all I could do was sit and cry. The love I felt from knowing the presence of God is the only thing that pulled me back up.

I could have let those destructive memories and the emotions ruin my family and me, but I began to release them. I went to God in prayer, and God strengthened me so that I could heal.

I am making progress in my recovery, but I still have a way to go. The memories I have experienced in the last couple of years have been more difficult than anything else I have ever had to face. Through turning to God, I am strong enough not only to face those memories but also to overcome them. And I know that because I can do that, I can do anything.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

At sixteen, Bonnie St. John Deane was a young girl with one leg and big dreams. Within five years, she became an Olympic skiing medalist, a Harvard honors graduate, and a Rhodes scholar. Bonnie has worked on Wall Street, in Europe, and in Asia, and she has been an award-winning sales representative for IBM. A writer, speaker, and president of SJD&Co., she also serves as a national spokesperson for Disabled Sports USA. Bonnie has been featured by NBC Nightly News as one of the five most inspiring women in the nation. She currently resides in San Diego with her daughter and husband.

The amazing crew of 14 ex-servicemen making history as the first all-amputee sailing crew

EXCLUSIVE by Sarah Arnold 21/02/2010


They have stared death in the face, been shot at, blown up by bombs and suffered terrible ­injuries in conflicts around the world.


They have all lost limbs but none of them have lost their fighting spirit.


Now the 14 ex-servicemen with just 15 legs between them are making history as the first all-amputee sailing crew to ­compete in one of the worlds most ­prestigious yacht races.


Last night the band of brothers were making final preparations in Antigua for the RORC Caribbean 600, an epic voyage that will push them to the limit. The crew range in age from 27 to 72 and hold ranks from private to colonel, but share an extraordinary bond which they describe as a fellowship of shared experience.


The gruelling challenge, which will take up to four days over 605 nautical miles, looping round the Caribbean, starts at 10am ­tomorrow.


To add to the ­pressure the boat, which has no special modifications to make it easier for them to control, had an eleventh-hour change of skipper after amputee Colin Rouse broke his remaining leg skiing and had to drop out. He lost his left leg eight years ago when a gas leak on a yacht caused an explosion.


Colin, 52, a former RAF engineer from Torquay, Devon, said: The guys who make up this ­extraordinary crew are heroes. This is an ­immense challenge for able-bodied people, let alone with the ­challenges these guys face every day.


"They have ­incredible grit and ­determination. They have fought for their country and now they are ­fighting for their future. The aim is to help them realise their ­potential.


Paul Burns, 48, from Nottingham, will now skipper the 65ft yacht called The ­Spirit of Juno, but ­nicknamed the ­allotment by the crew because they will have to dig deep to reach the finish line.


Paul, a former corporal in the ­Parachute Regiment, had his left leg ­amputated below the knee, lost part of his right foot and suffered horrific burns in the ­Warrenpoint Massacre, when 18 soldiers died in an IRA bomb attack near the border of the Irish Republic.


Paul said: It was August 27, 1979, at around 4.30pm and I was just 18. We were in a convoy going down to the border and there was a 500lb bomb by the side of the road. There was a huge blast and of the eight of us in our vehicle only two survived.


Then 25 minutes ­later there was a ­secondary device and that caught the rest of the guys who had been there to support and tend to us. Twelve more died and it was the biggest loss of life since the last war.


I lay where the blast had thrown me, burning and my body smashed. My left leg was amputated four days later. I spent two years in hospital and rehab.


Following his recovery Paul was posted to the Joint Services Parachute Centre to train as a rigger, maintaining and packing parachutes.


He has also done nearly 1,000 jumps, even parachuting with the Red Devils, before taking up sailing in 1985, with the British Limbless Ex-Servicemens Association, going on to join an all-­disabled crew for a round-the-world race.


He said: I really have lived these last 30 years. I have tried to inspire all around me and show the IRA they could not break me.


Paul, who owns a three-legged dog he calls Tripod, added: This will be the biggest sailing challenge of my life, skippering a boat and crew twice as big as anything I have done before in one of the top races in the world.


Many of the crew have suffered ­horrific injuries, but we see this as no barrier to them competing.


Ultimately they will cope better with day-to-day life because through this, they will face problems and find a way round them. But we are not just ­inspiring our own. We are inspiring all those around us.


COLIN HAMILTON


Colin Hamilton, 33, is a sergeant in the 3rd Battalion the Royal Regiment of ­Scotland The Black Watch.The dad-of-two, who has served for 16 years, had an above-the-knee right leg amputation after ­trying to save a ­colleague who was electrocuted in 2001. He said: I returned to Iraq in 2004 and Im due in ­Afghanistan next year.


JASE EVANS


Dad-of-three Jase Evans, 37, from ­Norwich, was a ­sergeant vehicle ­mechanic in the ­Royal Electrical and ­Mechanical ­Engineers. He lost his right leg below the knee after a car crash in 2001. He said: The ­camaraderie gives you a boost. I ­recently went diving in Egypt and we took a chap who was blind. It was a privilege to be part of that.


LEE MENDAY


Lee Menday, 50, from Holbrook, Suffolk, was a training ­instructor in the Royal Navy. He had a below-the-knee ­amputation of his left leg in 2005 due to sporting injuries ­dating back to 1983 when he was in the Falklands. I now have a sea leg, he said. As a teacher I want to be a good role ­model and these guys are helping me do it.

Advertisement - article continues below »



MATT GOODWIN


Father-of-three Matt Goodwin, 43, from Wolverhampton, served with the ­Royal Marines HQ and ­Signals Squadron­

until he lost his right leg below the knee after falling from a building during an ­anti-terrorist training exercise in 1986.

He said: The injury made me lose my ­confidence. Now Im taking back ­control of my life.


NIGEL SMITH


Nigel Smith, 50, was a mechanic in the Royal Navy. His right leg was amputated in 1977 after he was hit by a drunk driver. He said: I learned to sail with Blesma, which opened the door to me ­circumnavigating the globe on an ­all-disabled boat. Our motto was Crossing the latitudes to change attitudes.

I cant think of ­anywhere better.


PAUL HAGAN


Granddad Paul ­Hagan, 48, from Leicester, was a petty officer in the Merchant Navy for 10 years. He had his left leg amputated in 1998. He said: I have fought my ­demons. Its knowing, my God, here I am, no use of my legs, but scudding through the waves purely by our own physical strength. We are living proof we are not beyond rehabilitation.


PHIL AUCOTT


Dad-of-two Phil ­Aucott, 40, from ­Nottingham, was a corporal in the Royal Corps of Transport. His left leg was ­amputated above the knee after a ­motorbike accident in 1994. He said: It took a long time to get my head around. But I went on to coach able-bodied athletes, have played county cricket and gone rock climbing.


STEVE GILL


Steve Gill, 40, known as Big Daddy, from Leics, was a private with the 2nd ­Battalion the Royal Anglians. He lost both legs and his right eye in 1989, when an IRA bomb went off inside a beer barrel in Belfast. Steve said: If my ­children can see me doing what Im doing with half a body, I want them to think, ­Imagine what I could achieve.


TOM HIGGINS


Tom Higgins, 61, a father-of-three from Macclesfield served in the Army for four and a half years until his right leg was ­amputated above the knee in 1971 after an accident. Tom said: Ive become quite an experienced sailor with Blesma. It gives me a sense of freedom and competing against able-bodied crews is as good as it gets.


WAYNE H HARROD


Wayne H Harrod, 40, from Melksham, Wilts, is a ­colour ­sergeant with 1st ­Battalion the Royal Anglian ­Regiment. He lost his left leg below the knee in 2004 after a training accident. He said: Losing my leg was just a glitch. Its the fifth time Ive sailed with these guys. We laugh that when we get on board theres plenty of leg room!


JOHN REEVES


John Reeves, 49, from ­Guildford, Surrey, served in the 3rd ­Battalion The ­Parachute Regiment.He lost the sight in his right eye while setting up a booby trap with a faulty detonator in training in 1983. He said: There is a unique bond and there is a feeling of unity in making sure our ­injuries dont conquer or ­overwhelm us.


JOHNATHAN JONO LEE


Johnathan Jono Lee, 27, from Newark, Notts, is a lance ­corporal in the 2nd Battalion The ­Yorkshire Regiment.He lost his right leg below the knee in Helmand province in 2007 after his Snatch ­Land ­Rover was blown up. He said: Ive been back to work for 12 months now and want to ­return to ­Afghanistan.


Paul Burns


The boats captain, Paul Burns, 48, from Nottingham, was a corporal in the Paras but lost his left leg in an IRA bombing. He took up sailing after nearly a thousand parachute jumps. He said: Parachuting, you have a piece of fabric to soar through the clouds. With a yacht the fabric helps you soar through the water so it was a natural progression.


Col HENRY HUGH-SMITH


The oldest crew member and Blesmas national chairman is Colonel Henry Hugh-Smith, 72, ex-commanding officer of the Blues and Royals and the Duke of Edinburghs former equerry. He lost his right arm after being shot in Northern Ireland. He said: It is a privilege to lead these men from serious injury to something they never realised they could do.



sarah.arnold@sundaymirror.co.uk

Amputee boy who is a little Billy Elliot

By Aidan Mcgurran 8/05/2009



Four-year-old boy takes up ballet after losing limbs through meningitis
Harvey Phillips, who lost both his legs and one arm after suffering from meningitis, has defied the odds to take up ballet lessons.

Published: 2:26PM BST 07 May 2009

The ballet classes have improved Harvey's posture and are also helping him walk on his new prosthetic limbs Photo: MASONS
Harvey, from Louth, Lincolnshire, had his lower legs, right arm and fingers on his left hand amputated in 2005 when he was just nine months-old.

His mother Lisa Phillips, 34, feared he would never be able to run around with friends or enjoy music and dance.


But Harvey proved her wrong after watching his older sister Kayla, five, at her local ballet class.

He was so determined to take part that he took to the dance floor without the aid of traditional prosthetic limbs.

Now he is able to run, jump and twirl using custom-made plastic caps to protect his legs.

The ballet classes have improved his posture and are also helping him walk on his new prosthetic limbs.




Mrs Phillips said Harvey has never been happier.

"He wants to try everything. He doesn't understand the meaning of the word 'no'," she said.

"He's in his element when he's being active and dancing. He's totally comfortable in his own body.

"And if he can't do things the way his friends do it, he'll find his own way of doing things. 'I'll do it my way,' he tells me.

"I'm so proud of him. I always knew he'd have to fight hard all his life but I'm happy in the knowledge that he's ready for that fight."

When he was three years-old doctors made a permanent incision across the palm of his left hand so he could hold his crayons, pens, toys and his spoon.

He was later enrolled in a mainstream school, where he has excelled – especially with his handwriting.

Harvey became so independent that he began going to weekly ballet classes last November, where he takes part with other able-bodied children his age.

He now dances on 'stump caps' rather than his full-sized prosthetic legs, which he says gets in the way.







Harvey's dance teacher, Nicky Wright, of Studio 2000, in Louth, said Harvey was coping well with her lessons.

"We were all a little bit apprehensive when he first started and we've been very careful about how we were describing things," she said.

"We knew it would be a challenge but I think we've found ways to overcome these things by exaggerating the use of the head.

"I think he's coping nicely. He smiles continuously so he must be OK with everything."

Harvey will always need a one-to-one helper at school, but Lisa said he is becoming more independent every day.

"The name Harvey means battleworthy, and that's exactly what his is," she added.

Haiti amputees face dire quest for prosthetics

JoNel Aleccia
Health writer


Prosthetics groups promise help in a land where disability can mean death



Jon Warren
Doctors at Good Samaritan Hospital in Jimani, Dominican Republic, had to amputate 4-year-old Schneily Similien’s lower leg because of injuries suffered in the Haiti earthquake. His father, Ducarmel Similien, says he will do whatever it takes to get a prosthetic leg for his boy.



Haiti struggles to recover
The island is devastated by a deadly earthquake and dozens of aftershocks.
more photos




How to help

List of charities, organizations
Click here for a list of links to relief organizations and discuss ways you can help those in need in Haiti.
By JoNel Aleccia
Health writer
msnbc.com
updated 5:30 a.m. PT, Thurs., Jan. 28, 2010




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------






By the time 4-year-old Schneily Similien’s parents got him to a doctor, it was too late to save his left leg.



The Haitian boy was hurt in the Jan. 12 magnitude-7 earthquake that killed at least 200,000 people and injured at least that many more. As the ground shook his family’s Port-au-Prince home, pieces of concrete ceiling came down on Schneily and his mother, Darline Similien, a 37-year-old kindergarten teacher. One large chunk crushed the child’s leg.

But after five days of searching in vain for medical care, the family had to travel to Good Samaritan Hospital in Jimani, about 45 miles away in the Dominican Republic. There, doctors had to choose between preserving the boy’s limb — or saving his life.



“I would rather have my son with one leg than to not have my son at all,” Schneily’s father, Ducarmel Similien, a 40-year-old carpenter, said through an interpreter for World Vision, a Christian humanitarian organization who relayed the story to msnbc.com. World Vision workers have been providing basic supplies to quake victims and volunteering in medical clinics at the Haitian border.


Jon Warren
“I would rather have my son with one leg than to not have my son at all,” said Ducarmel Similien. He and Scott McGough, a volunteer physical therapist from Dallas, steady 4-year-old Schneily Similien’s as he learns to walk on crutches.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Schneily is among growing numbers of earthquake amputees created by the disaster. Estimates of amputations have varied dramatically — from a few thousand to more than 110,000, according to agency reports. There's no reliable count amid the chaos so far, but even the most conservative disaster workers say more than 75 people a day have lost limbs since the quake, either because of initial injuries or because of secondary infections and gangrene.

“This is already an unusually high number of amputations even for this kind of an earthquake,” said Wendy Batson, executive director of Handicap International, an aid group with global experience helping amputees and other disabled people. Her organization expects to see as many as 4,000 amputees when final counts are done.

In past quakes of similar magnitude, amputees have numbered in the hundreds, not in the thousands, Batson said. But the carnage in Port-au-Prince has been worse, partly because the quake was centered near the city of 2 million, partly because of erratic building construction standards, and partly because so many health and aid agencies were destroyed by the tremors.

Largest-ever loss of limbs?
The rising toll has triggered a call to action for prosthetics manufacturers and suppliers and amputee advocates in the U.S., who say the incident may represent the largest-ever loss of limbs in a single natural disaster.

“We’ve seen many amputees, but nowhere near the magnitude of this,” said Ivan R. Sabel, chairman of Hanger Prosthetics and Orthotics, the largest supplier in the U.S. “These folks are going to need ongoing care.”

Already, aid groups are raising money, collecting donations of used prosthetics and making plans to send teams of doctors, limb fitters and physical therapists to Haiti.

Last weekend, more than 300 cars loaded with wheelchairs, walkers, crutches and artificial limbs lined up in a parking lot at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Va., where organizers for the agency Physicians for Peace collected the mobility devices to be refurbished and sent to Haiti, said Ron Sconyers, the group’s president and chief executive.

“A gentleman came by and had tears in his eyes,” recalled Sconyers. “He said, ‘My wife died last month; this is her wheelchair. I know it will help someone have a better life.’”


On the ground in Port-au-Prince, Healing Hands for Haiti, a non-governmental organization with a decade of experience in the country, may be forced to rapidly double or triple its capacity to provide help for a disabled population that numbered 800,000 even before the quake.

“We’re going as fast as our feet can carry us,” said Eric Doubt, the agency’s executive director.



Helping Haiti amputees
Some groups aiding quake victims:
Handicap International: Co-recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1997 for work with land mine victims, the agency conducts 250 programs in 60 countries. The group has been working in Haiti since 2008.
Amputee Coalition of America: Provides resources and education for amputees in the U.S. and around the world.
Healing Hands for Haiti: Aid agency has worked for more than a decade providing help for 800,000 disabled Haitians.
Physicians for Peace: Provides medical education and training in developing countries, including Haiti.
Prosthetic Center of Excellence in Las Vegas, Nevada is accepting used braces, bracing, orthotics, as well as prosthetics and will ship to a clearing house in Haiti.
American Orthotic and Prosthetic Association: National trade association of manufacturers and suppliers of braces and artificial limbs.
Prosthetics Outreach Foundation: Helps amputees in the developing world gain mobility.
Legs for All: LeTourneau University program that helps clinics in developing countries produce inexpensive, durable prosthetics locally.
Limbs for Life Foundation: Helping re-establish prosthetic supply and distribution for Haiti in the Dominican Republic.



Healing first, then prosthetics
It’s still too early for earthquake victims to receive artificial limbs, said Pat Chelf, a board member for the Amputee Coalition of America, an education and advocacy group. Under the best circumstances, amputation injuries take a month or more to heal, and the conditions in Haiti are anything but the best.

Some patients had limbs sheared by the force of collapsed buildings or falling debris. Others had to sacrifice arms and legs when rescuers couldn’t free them any other way. Others lost fractured limbs because infection set in before they could be properly repaired.

In some cases, emergency operations were performed with chainsaws, with none of the usual thought about preserving nerves, flesh and function.

“There’s no way that these people had their surgical intervention optimized,” Chelf said.

From initial fittings and supply of prosthetics to ongoing adjustments, repairs and replacements, the demand for artificial limbs will be intense, expensive — and long-lasting, said Chelf.

Each device could cost between $4,000 and $6,000 per amputee, Chelf estimated. In the U.S., a new amputee can expect a minimum of four fittings a year to make sure the device is comfortable and works properly. In addition, several physical therapy sessions are necessary to help patients learn to adjust the way they walk and other body movements to use the new limbs.

“You have to be taught to use the device,” Chelf said. “You don’t just put it on and go.”

Some groups plan to make it easier and cheaper for amputees in Haiti and other developing countries to get limbs by setting up small shops where prosthetics can be made locally instead of being sent from abroad.

“For us, the issue is, when we walk away from this, it’s a long-lasting effect,” said Roger Gonzalez, executive director of Legs for All, a prosthetics development project at LeTourneau University in Longview, Texas.

An engineering professor, Gonzalez has created a durable, easy-to-make artificial leg that is fashioned of hard plastic and can be repaired with nuts and bolts from a hardware store. It costs about $15 to make, compared to about $2,000 for the cheapest leg in the U.S., and it can withstand the rugged geography and the dirt, heat and humidity of a place like Haiti.

“You have to have a knee that’s pretty robust,” says Gonzalez, who already operates programs in Sierra Leone, Bangladesh and Senegal.

Disabled can become pariahs
Making prosthetics cheap, repairable and widely available will be the only way to prevent Haitian amputees from becoming additional casualties of the killer quake. In a country where life is harsh at best, the disabled are often regarded as economic burdens and social pariahs, said Eric Doubt of Healing Hands for Haiti.

“The disabled and handicapped are pretty much neglected and abandoned,” he said.

That’s a view echoed by Schneily Similien’s father, who is just starting to contemplate his son’s future.

“There is a stigma with losing a limb; people tend not to take into account the needs of disabled people and it changes your life,” Ducarmel Similien told World Vision. “They don’t consider you a whole person.”



NYT: World of chaos envelops Haiti's children
A world away, foster parents hold out hope
Disaster do-gooders can actually hinder help
Read more news from Haiti


Acquiring replacement limbs may well be a matter of survival for children like Schneily as well as adults who lost arms or legs in the earthquake’s aftermath. Doctors in Jimani have told Schneily’s parents it could take up to three months to acquire a prosthetic leg for the boy. The parents say they’ll do whatever it takes to get one.

“I don’t want to think about the difficulties he might face right now,” the child’s father said. “He will have to work hard, but it’s already done. We just have to accept it and move on.”

© 2010 msnbc.com