Giving Thanks to Stranger's for Their Kindness

Photo Credit: Walter C. Black, Sr.

Nine months ago I had my right leg amputated above the knee. I am one of the millions of people in America without healthcare, getting a prosthetic leg was only a thought and perhaps a dream.  Not knowing what to expect since this was my first time being without healthcare. I thought if I was going to get a prosthetic leg, I was going to have to find a way pay for it.  To make matters worse, Lallie Kemp Hospital in Independence, LA didn’t have a orthopedic clinic so I had to drive weekly to Earl K. Long Hospital in Baton Rouge, LA. 

I met caring staff and doctors at both hospitals who really cared and helped me to get through my medical crisis. Realizing I was blessed with loving and supportive friends like Walter and Joan who drove me to the hospital weekly, my two sons, and grandchildren who took turns pushing me in the wheelchair and fighting over who is going to get my crutches for me.  I realized that those tiny little hands did so much for me in my time of need.

Faced with the many different situations that one can encounter on this journey.  I no longer needed two shoes.  After going shopping for a comfortable shoe at one of the local department stores.  I asked the saleslady if she could sell me only one shoe at a discounted price. She informed me that she couldn’t do that.  I started an online petition asking stores to sell one shoe to amputees at a discounted price.  

A man named Alex contacted me, he informed me that his girlfriend Erika had her right leg amputated and she had passed away due to other illness. He told me that he would donate her prosthetic leg to me if I could use it.  After we brought our conversation to an end, I didn’t know what to think.  Tears of joy took over me. Within the next three days he mailed the prosthetic leg to me. Now, I had to find a certified Prosthetist/ Orthotist to fix the leg to fit me. I called Hanger Clinic, Bernard Watson, III, CPO to find out if he could make the donated prosthetic leg work for me.  The company secretary gave me an appointment to come in the office with the leg. The rest of the story is nothing short of a miracle from Hanger Clinic once again.

I did some online research and found that Hanger Clinic is the company that created a prosthetic tail for the dolphin called Winter who lost her tail and joint when she became tangled in a crab trap in the Indian River Lagoon, along Florida’s East Coast. Hanger’s had given so many people like me, a dream come true by helping us to walk again.  

Research has revealed that in the United States, there are approximately 1.7 million people living with limb loss. It is estimated that one out of every 200 people in the U.S. has had an amputation