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Being a “Blade Runner” is not the reality for most amputees. Trying to live a normal life with a well-fitting prosthesis with minimum pain is the most many could wish achieve and even that seems to elude Steph. For brief stints she has had some success only to find shortly afterwards her skin breaks down and she feels like she is walking on what she calls razorblades. Then, she has to spend long times without any way to get around and without support.

Ending the pain is right around the corner and Australia has the honour to house one of the three orthopaedic surgeons that can successfully perform the operation required. She needs Osseointegration surgery after 25 years using socket technology which can be seen at:  Life Changing Surgery In Australia

Dr Al Muderis also has a website at Dr Munjeb Al Muderis  with many links for those with interest including his TEDx talk in Sydney in 2015.

Steph’s History

Steph was an apprentice chef trained by a leading French chef in Far North Queensland in Australia. She was a victim of a motor vehicle accident in her second year as an apprentice. She fought through major body and head injuries and a massive loss of blood to survive against the odds. She lost her leg but was back at work in three months only to have further surgeries for many years. She completed her apprenticeship between surgeries and found the ability to run two restaurants in the Blue Mountains just outside of Sydney. She won the best new restaurant in New South Wales in 1997 and continued her success until her prosthetics became too much of a burden to balance pain with the pleasure of her profession.

She was told by leading prosthetic technicians in Australia after a number of years of failed attempts that making a reasonable prosthetic leg was not possible. She was advised to go to America pay for and finally received a functional albeit expensive prosthesis. Unfortunately, prosthetic legs need to be replaced every three years and she hasn’t had the resources to maintain the equipment required or repeat the journey. She has paid for every operation performed, hospital visits, and three years of support from the Australian Government. All of the prosthetics that failed she has paid for. She also paid her family for the time they spent off work helping her to rehabilitate after the initial accident. She is now on the free limb scheme but despite best efforts from both sides this is still failing her. She paid for private surgery at her last revision for a plastic surgeon to correct the errors in her residual limb.

What is Steph Doing to Help Herself?

Steph has invested in electronic pumps and the consumable liners to improve her prosthetics in recent times. The current pump she is using has broken twice in its first year and has had to be rebuilt in Germany on both occasions. It is still not functioning correctly and with no recourse. The liners break every few months despite care in their use which is a consequence of their makeup. Steph has to travel long distances and stay for days at a time as prosthetic technicians do not attend her local area. Steph is currently attending wound clinic at her local hospital for an enduring wound carried since April 2014. She moves about with the help of a hospital scooter or a leg crutch as her newly made prosthesis doesn’t fit correctly.

She is regularly paying a premium in order to assure the surgery can occur. The cost of the surgery is exacerbated by the requirement to stay in the rehabilitation facility for one month in order to begin weight loading on the limb.

Help her to help herself. Help her to reopen doors of career and opportunity. Steph wants to be more involved in society and is keen to be more productive. She has ideas about improving the lives of amputees with the help of 3d printers and with updates on her Osseointegration. She is a natural motivator and is a regular contributor to worldwide amputee support pages on Facebook. She has financially supported those she felt less fortunate all her life and it would be nice to see those efforts reciprocated in her time of need.

If you can share this page, it would be incredibly helpful. If you can spare even small change, the action will be appreciated and acknowledged.

A Message from Steph:

"I have met the surgeon who can take away 24 years of suffering.
I would like to be able to find my true potential.
I want to inspire you and all those who suffer traumatic injuries. This forward step is what I believe is my destiny.
I have been locked in a cage of prosthetics all my adult life, promising abilities that frankly don't deliver.
I would like to take the path of Osseointegration and be part of a more logical hope for the future.
After attending the clinic and having all my questions answered, I feel hopeful I can look back and say in twelve months, I would be disabled no longer.
Please ask me any questions and I will attempt to respond as best I can." 
The clinic is helping Americans and British veterans as well.
 Osseointegration Australia
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Donations 

  • Armidale Dumereque Lions Club
    • $28,500 (Offline)
    • 8 yrs
  • Shy Anon
    • $198 (Offline)
    • 8 yrs
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Organizer

Steph Streisand
Organizer
New South Wales

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