An amputee wears a prosthetic made by the Accessible Prosthetics Initiative. April 20, 2023. Courtesy of the Accessible Prosthetics Initiative
Founded first at Ohio State, the Accessible Prosthetics Initiative is a nonprofit organization working to support amputees through education of amputee experiences and development of prosthetics.
Braden Jamora, Ohio State’s API’s founding president, said Ohio State’s chapter was created in 2019 to aid amputees in gaining access to mainly-3D printed portable prosthetics. Though API does not directly give amputees the prosthetics they produce, the organization connects amputees with resources and support they need.
“We are researching the 3D printing field and then guiding amputees who may come to us or talking to companies about how they can do these different things and basically trying to set them up to have their own connections and self-sustainable community,” Jamora said.
According to the initiative’s website, API has earned the status of a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and has formed six other chapters across the nation after creating its first at Ohio State. It works with amputees, healthcare professionals, students and volunteers to achieve its goal of providing prosthetics to those who need them, according to its website.
Jamora said API makes connections with businesses that produce prosthetics and support groups, giving the organization a better understanding of the amputee community.
Jamora said the initiative has connected families to a business that gave them a prosthetic.
“We wanted to see what we could do for them, and so we have a connection here in Columbus or the central Ohio area with a company called Khamsa,” Jamora said. “We connected that family with Khamsa, and they were able to work together to get the little girl her first prosthetic.”
Lizzy Woodhouse, API president and a third-year in biomedical engineering, said awareness of available resources is often a challenge for amputees.
“A major issue in the limb loss community is you usually don’t know what sort of resources are available to you unless you know someone else who experienced limb loss,” Woodhouse said. “It’s just not something that people talk about that often, and it’s not highly advertised.”
Woodhouse said API members have attended support groups to better understand amputees’ experiences and needs. She said the organization also speaks at schools to spread awareness about the importance of accessible resources for amputees.
Jamora said one of the prosthetic models the organization continuously works on is the “UnLimbited Arm,” which is inexpensive to make and allows for amputees to perform basic movements.
Through the development of these prosthetics, API is able to make amputees aware other alternatives to common electrical prosthetics exist.
Woodhouse said the initiative has grown in a meaningful way since its founding and has goals to continue to do so.
“We want to host events that make people excited about the cause and kind of make them passionate as much as we are about the cause,” Woodhouse said.
