Lincoln

Success Story

Written by Leah Sucato, MSPO​

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When Lincoln was born he suffered a CVA, or a cerebrovascular accident, which left him with left sided hemiparesis and seizures. As he grew up and continued to have seizures he underwent a right sided hemispherectomy which is a surgery where the separate parts of the brain. Following this radical surgery he maintained better control over his seizures but struggled with his hemiparesis daily. He started orthotic care when he was around 5 years old, getting an AFO (ankle foot orthosis) to help manage his drop foot and a WHFO (wrist hand finger orthosis) to help with the spasticity he was experiencing. Wearing his AFO daily, he was happy with it’s functionality; it provided him with the means for safe ambulation that he wouldn’t have had otherwise. The WHFO however, didn’t provide him any use other than preventing a contracture. That’s where Handspring enters the picture. Lincoln had been working with their sister company POA for his orthosis and the combined staff offered Lincoln the option of a prosthosis. A prosthosis is a combination of a prosthesis and an orthosis that provides the patient with support, proper body alignment, control, and function. Lincoln tried this treatment plan for a while but it was unsuccessful. He couldn’t put it on by himself and it ended up causing pain because he had to squeeze into it. This is when Lincoln and his family decided to proceed with an elective amputation and he hasn’t looked back since. 

What Stands Out

Lincoln was fit with a body powered prosthesis that kept things simple and lightweight. He has multiple different attachments he uses each for different things. Lincoln now works at a not for profit organization whose production process is structured to involve occupationally disadvantaged individuals. During work he finds himself using the Jaws Prehensor from TRS as he enjoys the “lock” feature of changing the grip force in the device. This allows him to grab and hold different things for long periods of time without having to actively exert body force. Lincoln went from relying on help from those around him, to now being part of a group helping others with physical limitations.