Several months after a historically bad hurricane season battered the Gulf Coast region of the US, heartwarming stories of compassion and kindness throughout the O&P community are still circulating.
* Tony Griffin, a transtibial amputee from Chavin, Louisiana, lost his prosthesis while trying to escape Hurricane Rita. While living in a shelter following the storm, he was fitted with a new prosthesis pro bono by Bobby Leaber, CPO, of Adaptive Prosthetics & Orthotics, Houma, Louisiana. Griffin is now working as a painter and sand blaster. Fillauer and Kingsley donated the components to Leaber through the Barr Foundation.
* Leaber also helped Gary Morris, a transtibial amputee who lost his prosthetic leg in Katrina. ALPS South, Euro International, Fillauer, Ohio Willow Wood, Friddles Orthopedic Appliances, and Bulldog Tools donated the materials, also through the Barr Foundation. Once fitted with his new prosthesis, Morris chipped in to help others with rescue and recovery from the storm.
* Minh Dang, was living in New Orleans, Louisiana, and was in the process of obtaining a new prosthetic leg when Hurricane Katrina hit. Before Katrina, he had been fitted with a temporary artificial leg while a New Orleans clinic produced his final prosthesis. However, once the hurricane hit, the clinic was not able to complete his new limb. He arrived seeking relief in California with an ill-fitting prosthesis he could hardly walk on.
Long Beach, California-based Human Designs provided a new prosthetic limb for Dang without expecting any payment. When Human Designs was approached by the American Red Cross about Dang's circumstances, the company said it was happy to help in any way it could.
