Mary Free Bed building prosthetic legs for patients in Guatemala [Video]

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Mary Free Bed sent a group of eight clinicians to Guatemala to build prosthetic legs for roughly 40 people in underserved communities.

Lauren Jones, physical therapist, and Katy Thorpe, prosthetist, are two of the crew members sent by Mary Free Bed to give people in Guatemala a chance to re-take their first steps.

Thorpe said, “These patients are just so grateful to get these limbs, and I get to teach them how to use them and walk with them so they can be functional after delivery.”

Mary Free Bed’s trip to Guatemala is part the Range of Motion Project, which is a non-profit providing refurbished prosthetic limbs to people around the world without access.

“This is a chance to provide my skills to the underserved,” Jones said.

According to Jones and Thorpe, most of the patients in Guatemala are at least a year out of amputation.

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