And follow these two links to ask questions and get more information on my aunt directly
Monday, May 27, 2013
Hope then started an organization called Limbs of Hope Foundation.
"I was watching a documentary on landmine victims in early of 2003 and I noticed that there was a big need for individuals to receive prosthetics. When I first had my leg amputated people in the community kept trying to give me their prosthetics. Which I found odd, but because of product liability laws we are unable to re-use the prosthetics here. So people here in the states were just disregarding them. Well the product liability laws do not apply in the rest of the world. So people were throwing them away when others can use them or some of the components on the prosthetic. Well in October 2003 I started the Limbs of Hope Foundation. We did a couple of fundraisers and we were able to raise enough money to travel to Cambodia in Sept. 2004. We traveled with only 55 prosthetics, that was all we had collected the first year. I and two other people were in my group. I had never traveled out of the country and that is was the one we chose. If you want to learn about the history of Cambodia and why we donated to them look up the Khmer Rouge or Pol Pot and you will see what happened to them. Anyways when in Cambodia we donated the prosthetics and we assisted them with the clinic that they cared for. We spent two weeks there. When returning from Cambodia that is when all of the Volvo for Life Awards took place 2005. Then in 2006 we had donated over 1500 prosthetics to 18 different countries. We decided to travel back to Cambodia so I spent two weeks again in Cambodia. We donated more prosthetics and we built them a basket ball court while there. In 2007 a team and me traveled to Transylvania Romania and stayed on an orphanage for 2 weeks assisting them with prosthetics and sporting equipment. We traveled to Hungry, Germany and Austria to deliver prosthetics as well during that trip. Since 2007 till now we are at 6700 Prosthetics donated all over the world. My organization has 4 different programs. Project LIMBS the distribution of Limbs throughout the world. Project H.O.P.E ( Helping Others Play Equally) We collect sporting equipment and we assist those who have experienced limb loss with playing sports. Project Foundation: Assist those who support those who have experienced limb loss with their buildings up keep and care. The last is CAMP AMP. Future goals. We are doing the Million Penny March I am raising a Million Pennies to get the 2000 prosthetic that are in my storage unit. I have to pay for the shipping for the prosthetics. We have a tentative trip scheduled back to Cambodia in 2014 October. I have also pushed for amputation awareness it is the unspoken problem that effects a big group of people."
"I was watching a documentary on landmine victims in early of 2003 and I noticed that there was a big need for individuals to receive prosthetics. When I first had my leg amputated people in the community kept trying to give me their prosthetics. Which I found odd, but because of product liability laws we are unable to re-use the prosthetics here. So people here in the states were just disregarding them. Well the product liability laws do not apply in the rest of the world. So people were throwing them away when others can use them or some of the components on the prosthetic. Well in October 2003 I started the Limbs of Hope Foundation. We did a couple of fundraisers and we were able to raise enough money to travel to Cambodia in Sept. 2004. We traveled with only 55 prosthetics, that was all we had collected the first year. I and two other people were in my group. I had never traveled out of the country and that is was the one we chose. If you want to learn about the history of Cambodia and why we donated to them look up the Khmer Rouge or Pol Pot and you will see what happened to them. Anyways when in Cambodia we donated the prosthetics and we assisted them with the clinic that they cared for. We spent two weeks there. When returning from Cambodia that is when all of the Volvo for Life Awards took place 2005. Then in 2006 we had donated over 1500 prosthetics to 18 different countries. We decided to travel back to Cambodia so I spent two weeks again in Cambodia. We donated more prosthetics and we built them a basket ball court while there. In 2007 a team and me traveled to Transylvania Romania and stayed on an orphanage for 2 weeks assisting them with prosthetics and sporting equipment. We traveled to Hungry, Germany and Austria to deliver prosthetics as well during that trip. Since 2007 till now we are at 6700 Prosthetics donated all over the world. My organization has 4 different programs. Project LIMBS the distribution of Limbs throughout the world. Project H.O.P.E ( Helping Others Play Equally) We collect sporting equipment and we assist those who have experienced limb loss with playing sports. Project Foundation: Assist those who support those who have experienced limb loss with their buildings up keep and care. The last is CAMP AMP. Future goals. We are doing the Million Penny March I am raising a Million Pennies to get the 2000 prosthetic that are in my storage unit. I have to pay for the shipping for the prosthetics. We have a tentative trip scheduled back to Cambodia in 2014 October. I have also pushed for amputation awareness it is the unspoken problem that effects a big group of people."
My aunt Hope Bevilhymer was born with club feet.
Unlike the picture, she was born with both feet being club feet. The left one was fixed by casts when she was a baby and the other foot was severely deformed so she had first surgery at Shriners Hospital when she was 2 months old. This would be the first of 30 just on her leg. They helped her get the leg working as she was a kid. She had maybe 6 surgeries before she was 13. She just had to wear braces all the time. At the age of 13 she started to grow which started to cause problems with the leg. From the age of 13-25 she had 23 surgeries to correct the problem. They fused her ankle so it wouldn't move at all.
They surgically broke her leg and she had to stretch her leg with an Illizarov Frame.
Her leg was 2 1/4 shorter then the other one. She just had surgery after surgery. At the age of 25 she kept breaking her ankle and they kept having to go back in and surgically fix it. She was taking 100 Tylenol a week to kill the pain and she just couldn't do anything to get it better. So the doctor offered amputation. On June 26, 2002 she had her leg amputated below her knee.
Prosthetic Legs and Arms costs are different.
In the US
Legs cost about $5,000 - $50,000
Arms are less at about $3,000 - $30,000
http://www.disabled-world.com/assistivedevices/prostheses/prosthetics-costs.php
However the average household income in the US is $52,762
This being said, if a person wants to buy a the better prosthetic, the majority of the US population will have only $2,762 left for the rest of the year to survive on.
To top that off the average 'life-span' of an prosthetic is only 3 years. Imagine spending only $5,000 on one leg every 3 years for a life time. Say maybe 20 - 75, you would spend overall $90,000.
In the US
Legs cost about $5,000 - $50,000
Arms are less at about $3,000 - $30,000
http://www.disabled-world.com/assistivedevices/prostheses/prosthetics-costs.php
However the average household income in the US is $52,762
This being said, if a person wants to buy a the better prosthetic, the majority of the US population will have only $2,762 left for the rest of the year to survive on.
To top that off the average 'life-span' of an prosthetic is only 3 years. Imagine spending only $5,000 on one leg every 3 years for a life time. Say maybe 20 - 75, you would spend overall $90,000.
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
Thursday, May 16, 2013
This sign is everywhere in Cambodia. Cambodia has many people, young and old alike, loosing limbs from the landmines every year! Fight the Ignorance!
Cambodia is a country in Southeast Asia. Landmines were placed throughout the entire country during the Civil War in the 1970s. It is estimated that there are 4-6 MILLION mines throughout Cambodia. Those mines are not accounted for and so there are men and children, usually boys, that play with and examine the mines to see if they are explosive. These brave souls tend to be killed.
If the casualty rate isn't rising, the amputee rate is.
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