Rehab Engineering last week fitted Vincentian Devin Richards with new prosthetic legs. Each step on his new legs brought confidence, the kind of confidence he’d forgotten when all he had were beat up prosthetic legs he received more than a decade ago when he first visited the North American state of Tallahassee.
After years of wear and tear, the old legs were welded, taped and barely hanging on — hardly suitable for trekking mountain sides of St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
Those old legs were a donation thanks to a medical team determined to give him the ability to walk. That year, it was a Christmas miracle. Severe birth deformities made walking the biggest challenge of his young life.
Jeff Fredrick, the owner of Rehab Engineering, looked at Richards with awe and admiration. Even though Fredrick gifted the legs, he seems to look at Richards as if he were his hero.
“It is amazing that he was able to walk with those other legs,” Fredrick said, “But he’s a tough guy. We won’t let it go so long this time.”
Rehab Engineering donated the prosthetic legs and feet with a price tag of $25,000.Richards received the donation as a result of partnerships fostered by the Caribbean American Medical Educational Organization, which provides medical mission trips to poor countries and foots the steep medical bills for complex procedures.
Dr David Keen, who is responsible for bringing Richards to Tallahassee, said while in St Vincent he saw Richards walking up a steep hill. He was amazed, not to mention, impressed, that Richards was still using the old legs. It was clear they were no longer a good fit.
Richards returned to St. Vincent last Friday. He not only returned home with new legs, but he carried a sense of accomplishment after he participated in and won a two-person rowing Paralympic competition in Sarasota while representing his country.
Richards has a way with a pen and paper. He loves art and can see himself working in graphic design. His heart also yearns to see things he’s never seen before.
“My dream is to go places. See people,” Richards said. And in his travels, he wants to help people. New York City appeals to him. The city throbs with life and lights and, in his eyes; New York is the epicentre of opportunity.
Replicated from the Tallahassee Democrat Written by TaMaryn Waters.
Photos: Joe Rondone/Democrat)
