inMotion Magazine

Finding Connections 21 From breaking point to turning point In July 2015, Nate flipped over the handlebars of his bike, breaking and dislocating his arm. Because he was an independent contractor, he had no health coverage through his job. He made too much income to qualify for Medicaid, but after child support payments he was left with little to live on, let alone pay for private insurance premiums. He didn’t go in for care. Meanwhile, his arm swelled and he popped his wrist into place like a Rubik’s Cube to relieve the pressure. At the time, he felt it was the best he could do in a desperate situation. Almost two years after the break, he got insurance and underwent amputation. But of all people to get cancer and lose part of a limb, Nate was probably the most prepared to turn that situation into a springboard. He didn’t simply take doctors’ orders; he enhanced his care according to his own goals. He created a diet and exercise plan to help him through four cycles of chemo that hospitalized him for days at a time. He searched for a prosthesis to use for shredding on his guitars, but was disappointed with the models. Fine, he decided; he’d make his own. While Kylee connected Nate with social security benefits to cover his rent, food and additional Medicaid insurance, he recruited her help in applying to dozens of foundations for grant money to buy a 3D printer. While he continued treatment and eventually started fittings for a myoelectric device, he sketched lightweight, cable-driven upper-limb models he and other people in need might prefer. Nate’s new frontier: printing for purpose One day in the summer of 2017, Nate was getting blood work done when his phlebotomist remarked, “Oh, you have a little arm; my sister has a little arm too!” Shelby Bradford’s left arm stops two inches above where her elbow should be – a congenital loss. As a child, she tried three myoelectric arms, but found they were heavy and uncomfortable. She went without for 27 years, developing overuse in her right hand and a pinched nerve in the shoulder. She consulted prosthetists again and got excited about her options until, after settling difficulties with insurance, she learned she would still have to pay $13,000 out-of-pocket. “That right there turned me off,” she says. Shelby, who lives in Idaho, sent dimensions of her arms to Nate in Colorado. He sent rounds of designs and 3D printer technology is the future of prosthetics.