Every year, the Amputee Coalition (AC) nationally promotes April as Limb Loss Awareness Month, and holds a number of events. Dankmeyer has been so happy to help promote and participate in Limb Loss Awareness Month once again. This year, we went all out for all orange shirts on Wednesdays, with staff members wearing any flavor of orange shirt they might have (and some of those might have been Baltimore Orioles related). We made orange ribbons for office visitors to pick up and wear to show their support. We posted on Facebook and Instagram, and we were even featured in the Central Maryland Chamber of Commerce newsletter.

The northern Baltimore area office, located on the Sinai Hospital campus, hosted one of their “Coffee with Dankmeyer” events, which was orange themed! The office staff, Sheryl Sachs, CPO and Jeanne Smith, Patient Services Representative, proudly displayed a proclamation that they had presented to Governor Hogan to sign, declaring April to be Limb Loss Awareness Month in Maryland. This was part of a national effort by the AC to have a proclamation in every state. Even Moxie, Jeanne’s adopted English Setter mix, came in to get her new prosthesis and had her picture taken with her prosthetist, Jed Newhardt, CPO.

Jeanne also took a day again this year to participate in the annual Hill Day in Washington, DC and provided this report:

On April 3, I was one of 130 people on The Hill advocating for the Limb Loss and Limb Difference Community.  The day was spent meeting with elected officials to advocate and educate for insurance fairness, funding for research and programs, and protecting access for qualified prosthetic care.  Limb loss brings individuals to The Hill, but each person’s talents, uniqueness, compassion, determination, strengths and stories create the bond that makes them unstoppable. 

Thanks to all the elected officials and their staff for taking the time for our voices to be heard.  At the end of the day of meetings, a glance at my step tracker read 12,100 steps!  There were a lot of steps combined by all 130 participants to Amplify their voices for the Limb Loss Community. Hope to see you on The Hill in 2020!

A number of Dankmeyer patients participated in Limb Loss Awareness Month by posing for pictures to Show Their Mettle! for the month long event.

For more information on the month long series of events for Limb Loss Awareness, and all of the resources provided by the Amputee Coalition, click here.