When Rick Kraft sits down with a client for the first time, he knows what
they're feeling. He's been there.
"I'm an amputee myself," says Kraft. He entered the profession after he
losing his right leg at age 16 and befriending the prosthetics designer who
helped him adjust.
"It's not unusual for people who are amputees to get into this field, but
there's more and more who don't have disabilities getting into it," says Kraft.
Kraft got his start almost 20 years ago, and now he owns a company that
specializes in helping people get used to life with an artificial limb. He
works predominately with elderly people who have lost limbs as a result of
complications from diabetes or other problems. He also works with small children
born with congenital defects and those who lose their limbs in car accidents.
"It's dealing with people, helping people. I can identify with what they
are going though -- and make a pretty good living," says Kraft.
Elaine Uellendahl is also a certified prosthetics designer. She came to
prosthetics because of an interest in medicine. Her college instructor recommended
she volunteer at a nearby hospital. When she started working with a scuba
diver who lost both his legs when his tank exploded, she was drawn in.
"Every case is interesting," says Uellendahl, a private practitioner who
is also the clinical instructor and director of Northwestern University's
prosthetics and orthotics program. "It's not that uncommon to have people
who have been drunk and then fall asleep and lose their limbs to frostbite."
One of the big challenges to the job is keeping up with technology. The
introduction of computers into the field and the evolution of plastics have
greatly altered what can be done, in terms of creating the limbs themselves
and creating more precise means of fitting sockets into the joints.
Since Uellendahl qualified in 1995, advances in the field have been enormous.
"All the components available now are so much better," she says. "When I started,
there were only three feet to choose from. Now there are 25 to 30."
Other advances include cosmetic improvements to the limbs to more accurately
reflect natural skin tones -- a feature particularly important for female
patients whose legs are frequently bare throughout the year.
Another challenge is working with the different personalities of the clients.
"So much of what we do is subjective," says Jack Uellendahl, Elaine's husband
who's also a designer. "Even though something looks comfortable, if the patient
isn't happy with it, then you're not done."
Discomfort can also be a result of psychological issues. The client could
be still grieving for the lost limb, so the designer has to be willing to
listen with empathy.
There's also a creative side to the business; no two people are alike and
no two joints are alike.
"There is a certain amount of craftsmanship involved," Kraft says. "You
need to have a feeling for what you're doing.
"But it's a great field, very rewarding. You're getting people back into
the workforce. It's very uplifting work."
For Jack Uellendahl, there was no greater example of that than the day
he fitted a young man with two new arms. "His wife had given birth to their
first child, and to be able to pick up that baby -- that was particularly
important to him."