Children and young people with limb loss were fit to reach their full running potential. On Saturday morning, more than a dozen Shriners Hospital for Children patients gathered at TRACK in Brighton's New Balance to get recreational prosthetics.
“I had a blood infection that almost killed me and they had to have my leg amputated below the knee,” said Sam Halpern of Plymouth.
Sam Halpern, 12, said he was getting ready to run with his new blades.
“It's quite difficult not to use legs like this for many years, but I have to get used to it and practice more,” he said.
Brooke Larsh is the founder of Running is a Right.
“We provide pediatric amputees with recreational prosthetics and training to use them properly,” Raasch said.
Raasch teamed up with the Dave McGillivray Foundation to provide patients at Shriners Children's Hospital with a new running blade and a fun way to practice using it.
He said recreational prosthetics are not covered by insurance and can cost between $10,000 and $30,000. These patients are receiving it free of charge, he said.
“They don't really know what happened because I was actually adopted when I was three years old, but they think it was a house fire because I have burns on the soles of my feet.” said Maria Schneck of Maine.
Schneck, 21, said she considers these events important for herself and her children.
“I think it's really important to teach kids that it's okay to be missing a limb,” she says.
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