Rotary Clubs of San Miguel de Allende and Rotaract SMA join together in a moving project to donate LN4 hand prostheses for free.
Two Rotary groups joined together to provide LN4 type hand prostheses to people who need them, free of charge, simply by registering and verifying that they are in need of these prostheses.
The Rotary Club SMA-Midday celebrates 18 years of impact with international recognition and a new project in conjunction with Rotaract SMA, together they are looking for beneficiaries for the donation of hand prostheses from the LN4 Hand Project foundation in San Miguel de Allende and its surroundings for free and invite you to register for the program.
The LN4 prosthetic hand is low cost, lightweight, durable and functional. Ernie Meadows, Michael Mendonca and Maurice LeBlanc, an award-winning mechanical engineer specializing in assistive technology with a special interest in upper-limb prostheses, worked to develop a hand that could be manufactured at low cost, but maintaining a high level of quality.
Photo: Rotaract Club SMA
After years of testing, the resulting hand was named the LN4 prosthetic hand, in honor of Ernie’s late daughter Ellen. In 2006, Ernie donated this prosthetic hand to Rotarian friends, specifically the Ellen Meadows Prosthetic Hand Foundation, specifying that no one could benefit from the production or distribution and that recipients would not be charged. For this device to be successful, recipients must have 14 cm of residual limb below the elbow to use this prosthesis, measured from the tip of the elbow to the tip of the remaining arm to ensure a secure fit of the cuff.
Additionally, no fingers, thumb, or wrist can remain, as they would interfere. Finally, the arm should be flexible and completely healed, with no open wounds or bandages to interfere with fixation. Rotarians reported that the prosthesis is always free for the beneficiary and said that LN4 ambassadors have taken these prostheses to almost every corner of the world, in more than 90 countries, such as Colombia, Ecuador, Vietnam, India, Jordan, Uganda, Tanzania and many more.
The LN4 Foundation announced “we want all people who require a hand prosthesis to have one, regardless of their socioeconomic level or ability to pay. “We manufactured a durable but rudimentary prosthetic hand without electrical parts and, with the help of our partners, distributed it around the world . ”
The goal of the program is to be able to deliver the largest number of LN4 Hand Prostheses to people who need them in San Miguel de Allende or neighboring municipalities. Where synergy will be sought with different NGOs for constant promotion of the program, in addition to the Felipe G. Dobarganes General Hospital, CAISES, secretariats, physiotherapy clinics and doctors in general. To request it, interested parties must register their beneficiary in the form: https://linktr.ee/Rotaract.SMA or call 415 108 2941 for more information. If the application is approved, they will be followed up by phone and once If there are 25 applications, an event will be held to adapt the prosthesis, training and maintenance; event where beneficiaries and their families could attend and participate in the process with 4 main stations.
“It is very gratifying to have people visit us from all over the world and express their amazement at what this small club has accomplished ,” said president Joe Ruffino, who assured that this has brought growth to the club and the satisfaction that multicultural membership is giving it. toasting Mexico. He announced that within the team there are psychologists and therapists who will be on the lookout if, in addition to the prosthesis, some type of additional support is required with the beneficiaries. “We want many people and families to benefit from this program and we will always be here to help our community in San Miguel de Allende.”
San Miguel Times
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