LOCALadk Magazine

In 2015 I went on a mountain biking trip in Nepal with several friends from Lake Placid. Like many before me, I fell in love with the country's scenic beauty as well as its culture and welcoming people. During that trip, I decided to create a nonprofit organization that would assist amputees. I called it Operation Namaste. I am a certified prosthetist with an orthotic and prosthetic clinic in Lake Placid named Mountain O&P. It services patients in need of braces or prosthetics care in Northern New York. Because of my background, I knew I could provide the same assistance to the people of Nepal. What I didn't know was that three weeks following my trip, Nepal would be hit by a 7.8 earthquake. e need for amputee care suddenly became urgent. At this point, I and my fellow travelers looked for ways to get help to the people of Nepal as soon as we could. I started a GoFundMe page and quickly formed Namaste. However, as we sought advice, experts in disaster and conflict zone prosthetic care warned us to slow down and resist the temptation to rush in. Aer a disaster, an amputee's first focus is healing. I waited three months and returned to Nepal. ere, I met several local prosthetists and rehabilitation experts with the World Health Organization. I discovered that the problem with prosthetics care in Nepal is not in getting someone a prosthesis, but in getting one comfortable enough to use all day given the rigors of the country's rugged hills. By 2020, Operation Namaste had developed a system for making comfortable prosthetics in Nepal equal to those made in the West. Because they're produced locally, they cost a fraction of imports. e product is Namaste Liners, made by a process called SILC Solutions. e first time this system was implemented in Nepal was February 2021. At that time, I went to Kathmandu and Pokara, where I met Suraj, a twenty-year man. As an infant, Suraj lost his leg due to an infection, but he was determined not to let this limit him in any way. He lives a full and active life and is currently a university student. Recently, however, his prosthetic leg had gotten uncomfortable. Operation Namaste collaborated with Dhan Prasad Roka and Shovakanta Sharma, staff prosthetist at Green Pastures Hospital (GPH) in Pokhara, to see if we could help Suraj out. Suraj's new prosthesis was made over the course of four days. First, Suraj visited GPH for evaluation and casting. When he removed his prosthesis, his practitioners discovered that a sore had developed on his leg. It was clear that his patellar-tendon- bearing (PTB) socket was irritating his skin. 56 LOCALadk

• Cover