Kids and young adults with limb loss got fitted to reach their running potential. More than a dozen Shriner’s Children’s Hospital patients gathered at the TRACK at New Balance in Brighton Saturday morning to get recreational prosthetics.
“I got a blood infection which almost cost me my life, so they had to cut off my legs from the knee down,” said Sam Halpern, Plymouth.
12-year-old Sam Halpern said he’s getting ready to run in his new blades.
“It’s pretty hard I haven’t been on these types of legs in years just gotta get used to them, practice more,” he said.
Brooke Raasch is the founder of Running is a Right.
“We provide pediatric amputees with recreational prosthetics and the training to use them properly,” said Raasch.
Raasch teamed up with the Dave McGillivray Foundation to give patients of Shriner’s Children’s Hospital new running blades and fun ways to practice using them.
He said recreational prosthetics aren’t covered by insurance and can cost $10,000-$30,000. He said these patients are getting them for free.
" I was actually adopted when I was 3 so they don’t really know what happened but they assume it was a house fire because I have burns going up the back of my legs,” said Mahlia Schneck, Maine.
21-year-old Schneck said she thinks these events are important for herself and children.
“I think it’s really important to teach the kids that it’s ok if you have a missing limb,” she said.
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