May 2009

Dawn O'Leary was a typical, active twelve year old when tragedy struck in 1972. While riding herbicycle with an older cousin, she was electrocuted in a freak accident. After 38 days in the hospital, both her left and right hands were amputated. Told by her doctors she would never have children, she proved them wrong, having 3 sons and 2 grandchildren.

Now, thirty-seven years after her horrific accident, Dawn O'Leary is set to astound the medical world again. On Friday, May 8th at noon, Dawn O'Leary will receive a prosthetic i-Limb on her left arm, a prosthetic limb Time Magazine named the "Number One Health Care Innovation of 2008."

This technological advance means that for the first time that Dawn, who over the years has pulled weeds and planted perennials with her feet, will no longer be hampered by the conventional harnesses and cables of yesteryear and the associated shoulder and elbow arthritis that now limits her functionality.

With the i-Limb, Ms. O'Leary will now be able to utilize each digit (finger) independently through muscle and nerve signals generated from her forearm. An individual motor in each digit allows for everyday movement for activities such as grabbing a ball, using an ATM, holding a cup of coffee, gripping a golf club or, in Ms. O'Leary's case, caring for her garden..

Despite her trials, O'Leary says that "God has been good," and views the i-Limb as a miracle that will help restore the mobility she lost back in 1972.

Ms. O'Leary's new arm was fit and designed by Ability Prosthetics and Orthotics of Gettysburg, PA., while the i-Limb hand itself is manufactured by TouchBionics. Ms. O'Leary is now one of a tiny group of people in the mid-Atlantic area receiving the i-Limb.

"This is the single greatest advance in prosthetics in the last quarter-century," says Jeff Quelet, Ms. O'Leary's prosthetist at Ability. "This technological breakthrough is the result of exponential growth in prosthetics research and is now being rapidly utilized by the military and Veterans Administration, among others."

To date, Ms. O'Leary has been fitted with his preliminary socket and has received some preliminary training from a hand therapist. Her final hand fitting is scheduled for Friday May 8th, at Ability's patient care center in Hagerstown, MD. Then, not too long afterward, she hopes to fulfill a lifelong dream of tending her garden with her hands, not her feet.

"At Ability, we pride ourselves on being able to find the very best solution for each of our patients," said Quelet. "We love helping our patients find their dreams again."