BioMechanics
November 2003
In Stride with O&P
Barr Foundation expands relief efforts to Guatemala, Lithuania
By: Anthony R. Edwards
The 12-year-old girl from the Guatemalan coast and the 37-year-old former boxer from the nation's capital had little in common except an inability to walk. Now they share an appreciation for prosthetic technology.
The Barr United Amputee Assistance Fund, a division of the nonprofit Barr Foundation dedicated to purchasing prostheses for patients who otherwise can't afford them, reached out this summer to the two Guatemalan patients as well as a double amputee from Lithuania.
In August, a 12-year-old girl from Puerto Barrios, Guatemala, born with congenital anomalies, received a prosthetic lower extremity device for the first time in her life and is now able to walk.
Efforts to bring the patient to the U.S. proved unworkable, but the foundation was able to find assistance in Guatemala via prosthetist Julio Fuentes, PO, who fitted the girl and aided in her rehabilitation. The BUAAF covered the cost of fabrication, College Park Industries provided the foot, and Precision Orthotics and Prosthetics in St. Louis and P&O Care in Fairview Heights, IL, provided the components.
Penny Rambacher, of the Dallas-based Airline Ambassadors International, a nonprofit organization founded by an airline flight attendant, brought this patient to the attention of the Barr Foundation.
The second Guatemalan patient is a 37-year-old former boxer from Guatemala City who was assaulted with a machete. The patient lost his left leg above the knee, among other injuries. Fuentes, who has been active with the Barr Foundation for several years, contacted the foundation on behalf of this patient. By the end of August, the man had been fitted with the device and begun walking again. College Park Industries provided his foot; Euro International provided all componentry for the transfemoral prosthesis.
Jon Batzdorff, CPO, of Sierra Orthopedic Lab in Santa Rosa, CA, and Kristine Knox and Jon Crane of Otto Bock, worked with the foundation to provide prosthetic rehabilitation to a 25-year-old Lithuanian woman who had lost both legs above the knee and also lost the use of her left arm in a car accident three years ago.
Batzdorff brought the patient to the U.S. on a medical treatment visa. After trying several prosthetic knees, he determined that the Otto Bock 3R80 knee was the most appropriate for the patient. Because the woman has the use of only one hand, Batzdorff cited the knee's stance phase stability as the determining factor.
Batzdorff had made arrangements and elicited donations-monetary and in-kind-for all aspects of the patient's fitting and rehabilitation except purchase of the prostheses before contacting the Barr Foundation in June. He did the fitting himself at no charge, and donated staff time, materials, and supplies through his firm. A local physical therapist and physician also donated time to help train the patient. Lithuanian Airlines donated her airline ticket. Even the local Lithuanian American community contributed by paying for her lodging.
She was fitted with two Otto Bock 3R80 knees and is now a community ambulator able to don and doff the prostheses one-handed, stand and sit, and negotiate ramps and stairs.
The Barr Foundation was created by William G. Barr, a transfemoral amputee, from the proceeds of the 1992 sale to Hanger Orthopedics of the Institute for the Advancement of Prosthetics. His son Anthony, who lost a foot in a train accident, is now the foundation's president.
Since 1995, the BUAAF has successfully provided prosthetic rehabilitation to 800 people through the efforts of more than 150 sponsoring prosthetists and 100 corporate and individual members of its Where Hope Meet Helps Donor Club, according to the foundation. For more information on contributing to the BUAAF, see www.oandp.com/barr.
| 
