Port-au-Prince, Haiti, July 15, 2010 – In a segment about Haitian amputees, Ray Suarez from PBS Newshour with Jim Lehrer highlights the work of the Hanger Ivan R. Sabel Foundation and interviews certified prosthetist / orthotist Anna Avakian, lead practitioner at the Hanger Clinic in Haiti. Suarez also features the progress of Hanger patient George Exantus who was a prize-winning competitive dancer before the January 12th earthquake, but lost his leg below-the-knee after he was pinned under rubble for two days.
View the piece in its entirety here.
About the Hanger Clinic in Haiti – The Hanger Ivan R. Sabel Foundation, in conjunction with the partners of the Haitian Amputee Coalition - Physicians for Peace, the Harold & Kayrita Anderson Family Foundation, the Catholic Medical Mission Board, and Donald Peck Leslie, M.D., of the Shepherd Center - founded a long-term prosthetic and rehabilitation center on-site at the Hopital Albert Schweitzer (HAS), an undamaged local hospital with a high clinical reputation located 60 miles from Port-au-Prince in Deschapelles, Haiti. Since its founding on February 22, 2010, the practitioners of the Hanger Clinic have provided prosthetic care to 400+ Haitian amputees. A training program to educate local Haitians to become prosthetic practitioners and technicians has also been established.
About the Hanger Ivan R. Sabel Foundation – The Hanger Ivan R. Sabel Foundation's mission is to enhance the productivity and quality of life for those who face physical challenges due to disease, war, or natural disasters, domestically and abroad, by supporting charitable organizations, programs, and volunteerism that improve human mobility. The Hanger Ivan R. Sabel Foundation is the 501c3 charitable organization of Hanger Orthopedic Group, Inc. For more information, visit http://www.hanger-sabelfoundation.org/.
###
Jennifer Bittner, Hanger Orthopedic Group
904-249-4210, jbittner@hanger.com
Krisita Burket, Hanger Orthopedic Group
904-249-0314, kburket@hanger.com |