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There are different ways that a person can be exposed to an electrical shock and end up losing one or both of their upper limbs. Gerry Kinney was working as a lineman when he accidentally made contact with a 7,200-volt power line. Jason Koger was out driving his four-wheeler when he ran into a downed power line. Eduardo Garcia was hunting when he discovered the dry remains of a bear. When he reached down to touch it, he was electrocuted by the live power line that was hidden under the bear.

While all these men were injured differently, their stories share similarities. They all had to go through recovery and are now successful prostheses users.

After Gerry Kinney recovered from his bilateral limb loss, he worked as a lineman instructor for about a year. He decided to stop working fulltime, allowing him more flexibility to speak with lineman and tell his story, and to work on his ranch. Gerry has a unique space at home that he completely remodeled after his limb loss — he calls it ‘the lineman’s cave’. He sees that project as his path to a new way of doing things, requiring him to learn how to use his prostheses to fix, build and weld, which you can see him doing below:

Jason Koger had a difficult time finding a prosthetist who specialized in upper limb prosthetic rehabilitation, which was crucial for him as a bilateral amputee. While he liked his first prosthetist, they told him that it was normal for his devices to feel uncomfortable and that he just needed to build up calluses. Jason wasn’t satisfied with that response. He knew his prostheses shouldn’t hurt, so he kept searching until he found Arm Dynamics’ center in Dallas. On his first day after being fitted with custom-silicone sockets, he wore his new arms for 12 hours straight! These days, the first thing Jason does each morning is put on his prostheses, then heads out for a full workday on his family’s farm. You can watch Jason don his prostheses independently below:

 

Eduardo Garcia wanted to get back to his life as a chef after he lost his left hand. “Are there any amputee chefs?” he wondered, which had been his profession for the 10 years before his accident. The answer is ‘Yes!’ and Eduardo has gone on to become one of the most well-known chefs who happens to have a limb difference. Eduardo currently has his own cooking show on the Magnolia Network, “Big Sky Kitchen.”

These men have gone on to do great things with the help of their wives, families, friends, prosthetic care teams, and prostheses. Knowing about the experiences of other amputees has helped immensely. You can watch Gerry discuss the value of peer support with Jeff, who was newly recovering from his amputations, in this video:

Have you experienced an amputation due to an electrical shock, or do you know someone who has? Would you appreciate some help in the process of recovery and holistic prosthetic care? Please contact us. If you have experience with this type of amputation or are a caregiver for someone with upper limb loss and would like to share your story, please feel free to do so in the comment section below. We hope you have found this article helpful.

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