"Every day in the U.S., about 500 people lose a limb. About 1,800 amputation surgeries are performed each year in Oklahoma. More than 1,600 of those — about 90 percent — are lower body amputations. So every day in Oklahoma, four people lose part or all of a leg." (Nationally, the most common procedure is toe amputation.) "These are the stories of four people living in Oklahoma — a mother, a senior, a Marine and a student — all living life on at least one prosthetic leg":
Standing Tall [more inside]
posted by zarq
on Nov 7, 2011 -
21 comments
"One day a little boy came up, he must have been about four and he saw me taking off my (prosthetic) legs and he started with the 'why' questions, you know, 'why haven't you got any legs', etc. And I said 'have you heard of The Little Mermaid?' and he said 'yes' and I said 'I'm a mermaid' and he got this look on his face and he said 'wow that's cool' and ran off to tell his dad.
I'll have to turn up to that beach again sometime with my tail - just in case he's there."
Weta Digital are the special effects team behind the costumes, weapons and creatures of the
Lord of the Rings movies,
Avatar and even
a sonic screwdriver prop that could be making an appearance on the next season of Doctor Who. In 2009, they
created a fully functional mermaid tail pro bono for Nadya Vessey,
an Auckland woman who is a double leg amputee. Video News Report:
1,
2.
posted by zarq
on Apr 5, 2011 -
37 comments
"I don't know what I was thinking. I guess Liz's tenacity [at attempting to climb the tree] bought enough time to chase the thought 'what can this metal thing do if it's pointed up instead of down?' to
its logical conclusion." At the end of election season, sanity and compassion are restored as an amputee uses his prosthetic to give a tree-climbing kid
a little boost.
posted by ocherdraco
on Nov 2, 2010 -
8 comments
I won't be happy until I lose my legs "I was six when I first became aware of my desire to lose my legs. I don't remember what started it - there was no specific trigger.
Most people want to change something about themselves, and the image I have of myself has always been one without legs"
This woman has
Apotemnophilia. She wants both her legs cut off, in fact she already had one. It's
victimless - would YOU be willing to amputate a perfectly healthy limb?
posted by Baldons
on Feb 3, 2007 -
97 comments
Mum with no arms changes baby's nappy with her feet. There's something really unnerving about this (rather old) video, but it sure puts
Gondry to shame.
posted by tombola
on Jan 17, 2007 -
14 comments
Stovokor! Captain pInluH and Commander Khrell are stuck in
Portland, the sneaky Ferengi having sold
them a 'faulty temporal device.'
Life is hard on Earth, it seems. Did anyone get a
set list? No matter. It's my beleif that we will not see these warriors astride
golf carts. Look out, number 1: perhaps they are looking to pull a Titor on your burgeoning data empire!
posted by mwhybark
on Oct 1, 2004 -
13 comments
On top of being a teenager, on top of surviving cancer, on top of losing a leg to that cancer, 13-year-old Lacey Henderson, formerly of East Denver's Hill Middle School, had to
suffer death threats and epithets because of her condition. This is just sick.
posted by donkeyschlong
on Feb 9, 2003 -
55 comments
Shake a leg! I like it that the guys who built the bombs, now have to build the legs the bombs blew off.
posted by thc
on Nov 14, 2000 -
0 comments
