Robert’s Legacy

 

ROBERT OPENSHAW, IMAHELPS’ LONGTIME PROSTHETIST, ANNOUNCES HIS RETIREMENT

The San Bernardino, California-based prosthetist has been on every major IMAHelps mission since 2007

By Jeff Crider, August 2023

 

As he has done hundreds of times before on IMAHelps missions, prosthetist Robert Openshaw designed and fitted new prosthetic legs for 27-year-old Jefferson Aguirre during our summer 2023 mission to Quito, Ecuador.

         Robert’s work enabled Jefferson to literally get up out of his wheelchair and walk again after suffering below knee amputations in both of his legs after being electrocuted in a pipe cutting accident in February.

         But Robert also surprised IMAHelps volunteers during our final mission team dinner by tearfully announcing his retirement from medical mission work.

         Robert has volunteered on every major IMAHelps mission since 2007, when he first joined Ines Allen and her team on a medical mission in El Puyo in the Amazon Jungle of Ecuador.

         Since 2007, Robert has provided prosthetic legs for more than 400 patients in six countries, literally enabling them to get up out of their wheelchairs and walk again.

         Robert’s patients on IMAHelps missions suffered amputations under a variety of circumstances. But in each case, Robert’s prosthetics work not only brought tears of joy to patients and their families, but smiles illuminated with the hope, happiness and joy at being able to walk again.

         Robert’s patients over the years include 23-year-old Michel Romero of Paraguay, who lost his left leg after being shot by the man who killed his father. Romero, who had grown up in one of Asunción’s worst slums, chased the assailant after he saw him kill his father. But the assailant then turned around and shot Romero, too, inflicting bullet wounds that resulted in the amputation of his left leg. Robert fitted Romero with a special leg prosthesis designed for sports and other high intensity activities. Romero had no hope of obtaining a leg prosthesis without Robert and the IMAHelps team. Romero’s case was widely covered by the Paraguayan news media.

         Other noteworthy prosthetics patients include 13-year-old Jonathan Herrera of Ecuador, who lost his left leg when he opened the door of his father’s truck and fell to the ground while his father was parking the vehicle. His dad accidentally ran over him, crushing his leg. But while Robert didn’t have everything he needed to make Jonathan a new leg, that didn’t stop him. He took Jonathan’s measurements and left the hospital in Ibarra, Ecuador one afternoon and visited hardware stores, leather shops and other businesses to gather the leather straps, rivets and other supplies he needed make Jonathan a new leg. Jonathan and his family were overjoyed at what Robert was able to do for him.

 

Jefferson Aguirre, 27, seated in wheelchair, suffered amputations of his arms and legs after being electrocuted while cutting pipe in February. Robert Openshaw and Gloria Soto-Reyes from the IMAHelps team fitted Jefferson with new prosthetic legs, enabling him to walk again. Meanwhile, the inner city high school robotics team from the Great Lakes Science Center in Cleveland, Ohio plans to design and fabricate arms and hands for Jefferson, which IMAHelps volunteers will provide to him on a return trip to Quito in a few months.

Photo courtesy of Angelo DiFusco.

 

Photo courtesy of Angelo DiFusco.

 

Photo courtesy of Angelo DiFusco.

 

         Then there was the case of Darwin Bolaños, a 36-year-old truck driver who lost both of his legs from the knee down in a traffic accident that devastated his family, particularly his 10-year-old daughter and six-year-old son.

         “To see him go from being very healthy and fine one day to missing both legs the next was very hard,” said Anita Tello, Darwin’s wife. “It was very hard on our children, too. At first, they were just happy to see him alive. But after that, it was very hard on them. I had problems with my son in particular. It was very hard for him to accept the fact that he may not be able to play soccer and other games with his dad like the other kids could do with their dads.”

         But Robert fitted Bolaños with two new prosthetic legs that enabled him to walk on his own again without crutches. Bolaños, through tears, said the new legs would enable him to go back to work and also help his wife around the house. His prosthetic legs would also enable him to play ball with his children once again, he said.

         “My children’s biggest dream is that their father come home today with both legs,” Tello said through tears as Robert fitted her husband with two new prosthetic legs. “It looks like their dream is going to come true.”

         By providing Bolaños with two prosthetic legs, Robert was able to help heal the whole family because everyone suffered from the accident that left him confined to a wheelchair. Now Bolaños and his family could begin a new chapter in their lives.

         Robert performed the same kind of miracle for Jefferson during the IMAHelps mission to Quito, Ecuador in early August 2023. After working with Jefferson for several days, making adjustments to his leg prosthetics and teaching him how to walk with assistance from Gloria Soto-Reyes, our physical therapist, Jefferson walked out of the hospital without crutches to the cheers of IMAHelps volunteers and local hospital staff members who cheered his success.

        Gloria and Jeff Crider will return to Quito in a few months to provide Jefferson with prosthetic arms and hands designed by the high school robotics team at the Great Lakes Science Center in Cleveland. In the meantime, IMAHelps is reaching out to the prosthetics community in Southern California and across the nation to recruit leg prosthetists who are willing to join the IMAHelps team.