A Little Info


There are nearly 2 million people living with limb loss in the United States. Approximately, 185,000 amputations occur in the United States each year, about 507 people lose a limb in the United States every day. The main causes of limb loss are dysvascular disease, 54% of which is including diabetes, 45% trauma, and less than 2% being cancer. Nearly half of the people who lose a limb to dysvascular disease will die within 5 years. This is higher than the 5 year mortality rate experienced by people with colorectal, breast, and prostate. Nearly half of the people who lose a limb to dysvascular disease will die within 5 years. This is higher than the 5 year mortality rate experienced by people with colorectal, breast, and prostate. Of people with diabetes who have a lower-limb amputation (legs), up to 55% will require amputation of the second leg within 2 to 3 years. Survival rates after an amputation vary based on a variety of factors. Those who have amputations from trauma tend to have bad long-term survival, but those form vascular disease (including peripheral arterial disease and diabetes) face a 30-day mortality rate reported to be between 9 -15% and a long-term survival rate of 60% at 1 year, 42% at 3 years, and 35-45% at 5 years. Hospital costs associated with having a limb amputated totaled more than $6.5 billion every day.

        Bianca Kajlich and Landon Donovan make a difference for the Amputee

                                                                 Coalition


(CBS/What's Trending) - In March, Tonic helped "Rules of Engagement" star Bianca Kajlich raise more than $36,000 for the Amputee Coalition's Paddy Rossbach Youth Camp, a camp she was inspired to support after her brother lost both of his legs in a train accident. While Bianca and her ex-husband, soccer star Landon Donovan, attended the camp this summer, Bianca shot a video exclusively for Tonic of the experience.

The video includes the observation, "While we try to teach children about life, children teach us what life is all about." Bianca told us that she learned a great deal from her young charges.

"These kids have helped me to realize that our one true purpose as human beings is to support and love one another," Bianca told Tonic. "To let go of our judgment and cynicism and truly explore what it means to give unconditional love to each other. It is one of the hardest things to do, because fear and mistrust have clouded our ability to see ourselves as equals. At camp, we are all one, no matter our limitations or appearance. It is the freedom to be different while celebrating what makes us the same."

The 2011 Amputee Coalition's Paddy Rossbach Youth Camp was held from July 23 to July 27 this year at the Joy Outdoor Education Center in Clarksville, Ohio. The five day summer camp inspires children who have lost limbs or have limb differences to enjoy the typical camp adventures while making friends and gaining confidence.

Bianca expressed her gratitude to the donors who made the camp possible, telling Tonic, "Perfect strangers reaching out to help one another is what keeps me getting out of bed each day with a smile on my face." She added, "It gives me hope that this world is in damn good hands after all."


 


One on One with Daniel Carroll

Hylton's kicker Daniel Carroll lost his right arm in a car accident 8 years ago, but he hasn't let that slow him down yet.

 

As Hylton’s football team takes the field for tonight’s Northwest Region semifinal, Daniel Carroll will join his teammates on the sideline prior to the opening kickoff.

Carroll will cheer for his teammates knowing that as the backup kicker, he may not play. He usually has watched starter Tyler Zong handle field goal and extra point duties.

That has not stopped Carroll from being a positive influence despite having never played football before this year.

Nor does he allow playing without a right arm stand in his way.

He has adjusted to life in the aftermath of being involved in a horrific accident seven years ago.

His only athletic experience came during a nine-year playing stint for Prince William Soccer, Inc. (PWSI), an organization for which he now serves as a referee.

Carroll became drawn to football after attending games and meeting the players as a freshman.

He finally decided to play after the encouragement of Bulldogs offensive coordinator Jason Edwards, whom Carroll worked with this summer at Potomac Nationals games.

“He’s excited about every opportunity he gets," Hylton coach Tony Lilly said. “Every opportunity he gets to come on the field, every opportunity he gets to walk out here on the practice field, he’s one of the more positive people I’ve ever been around.”

A SCARY EXPERIENCE

One close look at Carroll will reveal a scar above his left eye and a scar above his forehead, which required stitches to be closed.

But on Nov. 7, 2004, the same day this now senior suffered both injuries, Carroll’s right arm was removed from his body.

The loss of his arm concluded an experience in which Carroll gained an appreciation of the precious value of life as he lay on the threshold of death.

Carroll and his father were travelling on I-95 just outside the Quantico exit. Carroll was in the passenger’s seat when their vehicle hit the one in front of them and flipped over.

With the car flipping, Carroll felt himself being pulled outside the vehicle even as he clung to the outside mirror.

The car regained its balance and landed on the passenger’s side.

It slid 80 yards before stopping and trapping Carroll underneath.

“I thought I was in a dream or something,” he said. “You can’t feel it because it happened so fast. I couldn’t believe it.”

Once removed from the car, Carroll went by ambulance to a hospital on Quantico Marine Corps base.

His right arm remained connected to his body. He also had a hole about the size of a quarter in his head.

He never lost consciousness, though the impact of the crash left his arm in disarray.

“It looked like a shredded piece of paper,” Carroll said. “[Doctors] said my bone didn’t break. It just disintegrated with a 4,000 pound car on it.”

Carroll said he felt no pain after the accident.

But he still required urgent medical care.

Soon after arriving at the hospital, hope of saving Carroll’s arm quickly disintegrated when the doctors came to a quick conclusion.

“The doctors came in and very politely said, ‘We have to take his arm,’” Carroll’s mother Lynn Grinnell said. “They said there’s no way to save it. I said, ‘Go do what you need to do.’ I wasn’t in tears. I was probably more in shock after that point.”

Carroll understood the doctor’s decision.

He faced four months of physical therapy and worked with a rehabilitation specialist.

The hospital staff had him throw a ball to try hitting a target on a piece of paper that was taped to a wall.

“I lost some movement in my upper body,” Carroll said. “I couldn’t walk for a while.

“They started setting me up and throwing me the ball. They were explaining to me that when you move your upper body, you’re actually working your lower body. They said that helps and it actually did. Before long, within a week, I was walking around.”

Carroll uses a prosthetic right arm. He bought it two weeks ago and wears it during school.

He can wear the prosthetic during games should he so choose. But he says the 10-15 pounds of weight it carries may throw his kicks off.

He is making strong use of his left hand by learning to write. He can write legibly as long as he is not in a hurry.

“He’s done very well,” Grinnell said. “When the accident happened, there was nothing anybody could do to bring his arm back.

“But I took that as a positive attitude with him. I never said, ‘You lost your arm. What do you do now? You’re alive. It’s your arm, but it’s no big deal. Why be down about it?’”

SHOWING CHARACTER

The accident never wrecked Carroll’s spirit. He stays active in school through his participation in Hylton’s Junior ROTC and television production class.

Last year, Carroll founded Limbs for Fitness, an organization dedicated to promoting physical and mental fitness.

Carroll shares his story as a motivational speaker. His story is also on the foundation’s web site,www.limbsforfitness.yolasite.com.

The site also displays a video clip of U.S. soccer star Landon Donovan and his ex-wife, “Rules of Engagement” star Bianca Kajlich, as they raised over $36,000 for Amputee Coalition’s Patty Rossbach Youth Camp.

Kajlich supported the camp after her brother lost both his legs in a train accident.

“I was thinking that I needed to do something after my accident,” Carroll said. “I just didn’t know what. I started speaking to little groups, mostly military kids.

“I was explaining to them that no matter the disability, no matter if you have autism and if you’ve lost something, you can still get up and do things.”

ENJOYING THE GRIDIRON

Carroll spends practices perfecting his kicks and participating in special teams drills. He never has shied away from contact when running downfield to prevent a huge kickoff return.

“He’s gone through some things and been tested in life in a way a lot of us never get tested in,” Lilly said. “He has resiliency to continue to be a positive person. I’m thrilled to see him walk up on the practice field everyday. To me, he stands for all the good things you find in a man. He enjoys being part of this team.”

Carroll has completed the required courses to graduate in 2012. But he is trying to take enough classes to be eligible to compete for Hylton next fall and postpone his high school graduation until 2013.

Two weeks ago, Lilly inserted Carroll into a game to attempt an extra point after Hylton scored its final touchdown.

The Bulldogs led 42-7 with 9:42 remaining in the fourth quarter.

Carroll missed the kick, but no one was angry.

Hylton won anyway and despite his failed attempt, Carroll knew his teammates still accepted him.

His bond with his classmates and other players runs so deep thanks to his outgoing and humble nature that despite the loss of an arm, they know he is just another person.

“Being everybody’s looking at me, just kicking a ball through two poles gets your adrenaline running,” Carroll said. “I was nervous.

“A lot of people said your first kick doesn’t matter. You’ll miss it. I was like, ‘OK. At least it won’t be a big deal if I do miss it’ because the whole team was behind me. They were all behind me, especially coach Lilly.”

Staff writer Robert Daski can be reached at 703-530-3913.

 

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