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This article was originally published in O & P Business News, November 15, 1998. The online version has been modified to keep the information current.
Progress has already been made. "We have already obtained commitments for discounted and/or donated professional services of qualified practitioners to travel to developing countries," says Foundation President Anthony T. Barr. Aid is restricted to only those who have no other financial resources, Barr says. In order to encourage continued donations and participation, the use of donations will be tracked and the donors informed as to their final destination. "We are hopeful there continues to be a sincere interest from manufacturers and practitioners to contribute to the amputee population and donate an adequate supply of quality inventory to be used exclusively for outside the U.S." Money donations also are welcome; the Foundation is a non-profit organization; prosthetic components and dollar contributions may be tax deductible. (check with your tax accountant) As our mission expands, the Barr Foundation hopes to coordinate efforts with other established organizations. "We would like to work with other organizations to coordinate not only prosthetic application and rehabilitation efforts but also to assist in the political, economic, and technical support required for amputees to be self-sufficient and to better assure complete, successful rehabilitation," says Tony Barr. "The concept of 'Whole Again' is not merely providing an artificial replacement of a former limb but also providing a method for the person to become self-productive and make contributions to his own community." On board in 2001 to assist the "Where Hope Meets Help" initiative are 2001 Hope Donor Club members; United States Manufacturing Company, Fillauer, Inc., Hosmer Dorrence Corporation, Knite-Rite Incorporated, Foresee Orthopedics Supplies, Motion Control, Cascades Orthopedic Supplies,the Heather Mills Health Trust, O&P Digital Technologies, United Amputee Services Association (UASA), Garrison Orthotic Prosthetic Clinic, San Francisco Prosthetic O & P, O & P Digital Technologies , Ohio Willow Wood, O & P Business News, O & P World Magazine, and the O & P Almanac. The Barr Foundation is realistically looking at possible pitfalls in order to optimize the use of resources. It wants materials and expertise to be used. "Our expectations are for far more than slapping a donated leg onto an amputee and leaving the country," says Barr. "The Barr Foundation demands that any success generated from donations and prosthetic contributions and services be measured by the complete rehabilitation of the individual and the promoted social and economic roles that people with impairments can have in the future." Says new Board member Kim Doolan: "Currently we are putting much effort into an international humanitarian project. Because my own experience abroad is limited, I have been seeking advice from several prosthetists who have done a great deal of humanitarian work. First, however, we must build a substantial inventory of donated prosthetic components and have the funds necessary to process foreign applications. "When my husband, Mike Allen, and I went to Bosnia in 1996, we were saddened to see what had become of donated used components from well-meaning people around the world. They occupied a large shed behind the rehabilitation hospital," Doolan continues. "Our interpreter explained that Bosnians believe themselves to be first-world Europeans, deserving of new components. I have heard stories from others of excellent parts being given to untrained people. As a result, the parts were either misused or never used. "There will be additional factors playing into the Foundation's decision of where to send goods. The ICRC does an excellent job of training practitioners both in patient management skills and fabricating complete prostheses made from local materials that can easily be replaced. Our immediate objective is to acquire U.S. manufactured new and quality used components. Then, the foundation will be able to work with other humanitarian organizations throughout the world. We are eager to do this by supplying valuable prosthetic components and qualified practitioners who are willing to donate their time and expertise. "We want our sponsors to know their donations will be used and used well." "Together we can accomplish much," says Tony Barr. "The Barr Foundation, the UASA, and sponsoring O & P practitioners and manufacturers have the track record of successfully delivering prostheses to more than over 650 amputees in 38 states and 10 countries including Philippines, Mexico, Sierra Leone, West Africa, Guyana, South America, Belize,Costa Rica and Honduras, Central America, Russia and Kosovo. We now ask the prosthetic community to help us continue to expand this mission globally." How did the Barr Foundation come about? It's quite a story.... It is the morning of June 2, 1970. Controversial millionaire land developer and state legislator William G. Barr is about to drive away from his apartment in the interracial complex he built. The project in Joliet, Illinois is not popular among some groups; three times Barr has seen crosses burn on his lawn. He turns on the ignition, a motion someone intended to be his last. Five sticks of dynamite explode. Barr survives the explosion, but is critically injured and loses his right leg above the knee. The perpetrators were never found. Fast forward to 1972. Bill's son Tony is standing on a railway station platform in south Florida, having just walked out of a fashionable depot restaurant with some friends. He is standing close to the edge as a train nears and roars past. Suddenly something hard strikes his arm, knocking him to the tracks. In an instant of searing pain, a wheel runs over his left foot; he is spun just inches off the tracks. He awakes in the hospital. His heel and a small part of an arch are all that remain from his injured foot. Lightning has struck the same family twice. The long saga of searching for an end to pain and a good prosthesis led father and son through a succession of doctors and prosthetists to no avail. They found a lack of knowledge and skills on the part of both physicians and prosthetists and a lack of communication between the two fields. Even top medical institutions were of little help. Their story is told in an emotionally gripping book,Whole Again, written by Bill Barr and Lee Whipple. The book is available thru the Foundation. Finally Bill Barr's search led him to a skilled prosthetist, Jan Stokosa, C.P., who made his first properly fitted socket. Finally Bill was more free of pain and functional. Now, could Tony be helped? Tony's case was the worst Stokosa had ever seen; designing the right prosthesis was a highly complex task. Three designs were nearly completed, then scrapped. Then - success! As Tony's father talked with Stokosa on the phone, Tony was running in the parking lot. He has been able to resume an active life, even to a favorite hobby-skydiving. Bill Barr's life also improved even more. A little-known but highly successful surgical technique pioneered by their father in Hungary and performed by brothers John Ertl, M.D., and William Ertl, M.D., in Illinois enormously diminished his pain. The procedure is still being performed by John Ertl's son, J. P. Ertl, M.D., who has a surgical practice in Sacramento, California. Bill Barr determined to do something to prevent other amputees from suffering as he and Tony had. This led him on an often controversial quest to improve surgical amputation techniques in the medical profession and the level of care and expertise in the prosthetic field. In 1978, he founded the nonprofit Institute for the Advancement of Prosthetics in Lansing, Michigan for patient care and research. Jan Stokosa was Director. Then, in 1992, the IAP was bought by Hanger Orthopedic Group. Funds from the sale were used to start the Barr Foundation. The Barr/United Amputee Assistance Fund (BUAAF), founded in 1995, is administered by the United Amputee Services Association (UASA). The foundation, along with UASA, also works toward passage of legislation to assure O & P provider standards. The two organizations were instrumental in gaining passage of the Florida licensure law and are supporting federal legislation aimed at qualifications of practitioners providing custom O & P services. A recently elected foundation board Jack Richmond, past President of UASA, describes how UASA and the Barr Foundation started working together: "In 1994 [when he was elected UASA President], UASA had a membership of over 2,000 and was receiving several requests per month for assistance. Up until that time we had been pretty successful in getting local prosthetists to provide limbs for amputees that had no funding. As the need increased and profit margins of the prosthetic facilities decreased, it was getting harder to provide for those in need. "About the same time, Tony Barr became aware of our group and was looking for ways to carry on his father's mission through the Barr Foundation. Tony told me there was some grant money available for a program to directly benefit amputees and encouraged me to submit a proposal. "With a few late nights at the computer and the approval of the UASA Board of Directors, the Amputee Assistance Fund was born. Now all we needed was the funding. With Tony's endorsement of the fund at the Barr Foundation Board Meeting in June, 1995, the initial grant was approved. In recognition of the Foundation's contribution and UASA's support, we named the fund the "Barr/United Amputee Assistance Fund (BUAAF). Within 30 days we had funded the first amputee through a sponsoring prosthetist. Today the BUAAF has provided prosthetic rehabilitation to over 700 recipients thru over 100 sponsoring prosthetists and 30 Where Hope Meets Help Hope Donor Club Members. This membership base is made up of small and large practitioners to the major O&P manufactures of prosthetic components and supplies in the world. Everyone shares the desire to give back to the world-wide amputee population thru their resources. "The success of the fund has been due to the generosity of the prosthetists working with the fund," Richmond continues. "They donate their expertise, facility, and labor while the fund pays for the component parts and maintenance. When Tony and I founded this fund, we did it as a way for prosthetists to continue to provide care for amputees with no source of funds, without taking cash out of their practice to buy the parts." Many amputees have expressed appreciation for the help they have received. Here are just a few: "I...commend you on the tremendously necessary work you are doing with the Barr Foundation. You folks were gracious to me. At a time when I needed financial help to purchase a new lease on life, yowere there for me. And I thank you! As a result total convalescence, although long, has been a very positive experience, thanks again to you and the fine people at the Barr Foundation." - Joseph F. Ortiz, Bencia, California. "Without Scheck and Siress and the Barr Foundation, Jay would not have been able to receive a quality prosthetic limb. I thank you from the bottom of my heart." - Maxine A. Somers, Hoffman Estates, Illinois. And from Kathy Lamonica, Draper, Utah, a single mother of two sons: "Thank you for the assistance of allowing me to have a left arm again. ..I'll be able to give my boys real hugs now." Gayle O'Barr, past director of UASA also contacted the Barr Foundation to say, "...Thank you for the wonderful aid that you provide to amputees who desperately need prostheses, yet are unable to financially acquire them. I am an amputee who has been trained to visit new amputees in hospitals and rehabs. I have been able to put some of these in touch with O & P facilities that work with your Foundation to make limbs for these individuals. Garrison's Prosthetic Services and Ortho Pro are two wonderfully helpful facilities that have blessed amputees with new artificial legs...the amputees receiving those limbs are so appreciative...they will now gain back their inddence!" Practitioners too have made appreciative comments. For instance, "The Barr Foundation literally comes to the rescue," said David S. Goris, C.P.O., Sonlife Prosthetics and Orthotics, Inc., Brooksville, Florida. "Through your foundation, people are able to walk. Not only has the lost limb been restored, but also the patient's self-worth and self-esteem has been restored." "A properly fitted limb creates value-value to the individual and value to the community," says John Zeffer, C.P., Long Beach, California. "A functional human being, able to contribute in work, play, and participation through any level of independence creates value for all."
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The Barr Foundation, which assists amputees without funding to obtain prostheses, is extending its arm of help internationally. The first goal was to provide aid to amputees in Mexico; the foundation now has expanded their mission to the rest of Latin America and other areas of the world.
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