High-tech prosthetics for 75 Guatemalan amputees

When the ROMP staff received an email last February, which stated that GoPro was considering ROMP for their GoPro for a Cause campaign, we thought it might be a hoax. Since 2005, ROMP has remained fairly "under the radar" and without a significant marketing budget, we had always lacked the ability to attact the attention of these high-level brands.

After months of pitching, preperation, and patient story development, GoPro producers and ROMP staff were meeting in Guatemala to both interview and film some of ROMP's most inspirational patients. These patients went on film in their most vulnerable states and told their story for the world to hear.

This December, GoPro will show these films on their website and embedded on rompglobal.org. ROMP will also be hosting three special events in San Francisco, Chicago, and Denver, which will highlight the films and bring our supporters together to learn more about ROMP.

One of the patients shown in these short films, is Luisa, who is a female firefighter in Zacapa, Guatemala, in the same town as the ROMP lab. Luisa lost her leg in a motorcycle and after the accident she became depressed and was unable to leave the house. 

But after a few months, she found her way to the ROMP clinic. She was reluctant to go, but she says within the first few minutes of her fitting, she felt "whole again". 

After this trip with GoPro, ROMP successfully hosted our 9th "ROMPtober" medical trip to our Guatemala facility. This special blend of education, field work, and research brings clinicians, students, and local ROMP staff together to provide high quality care to patients in need. This year we were particularly excited to host students from two O&P masters programs - Loma Linda and Baylor College of Medicine - as well as prosthetists and physical therapists from Chicago, Boston, and Quito, Ecuador

It is because of the generous support of our donors, like you, that ROMP is able to provide services to people like Luisa. We are proud to work with such incredibly supportive and generous indvidiuals throughout the year, who care for our patients and want to see them succeed. 

Luisa now reports to the ROMP staff that she is active, back at work, happy, and has a new outlook on life. She attributes this change to be able to be mobile again. 

While we look toward the holiday season and think about all of the things we are grateful for as an organization, we look toward our patients and are full of gratittude for their strength and determination. We feel grateful to be able to help them along their journey. This is true "empowerment through mobility". 

Links:

• http://rompglobal.org