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These stories are about real people that we have had the privilege to work with at AtlanticProCare. They aren't paralympians or public figures, they aren't business moguls or racecar drivers, they haven't been on TV or featured in magazines. But they have achieved, usually through an indomitable spirit, something that would at first seem unreachable for most of us. It is almost a cliché, but watching ordinary people doing extraordinary things is one of the most impressive and wonderful things one can experience. It is our hope that getting a glimpse into these individual's lives may help you realize that within you is the same spirit, the same ability, to exceed your own expectations by overcoming your limitations because these people are just regular people like you: these are real life success stories.
We will regularly feature the story of one of these special people. If you'd like to submit a story about someone you know (or even just the info about this person-we'll write the story) please email us by clicking on the "Contact Us" button.
Meet Jim Vachianno. Jim is a long term resident of Portland, Maine who grew up working on the docks in Portland harbour doing heavy manual labor. In 1984, when he was just 22 years old he was in a motorcycle accident and wound up losing his left leg below the knee. Because of the traumatic nature of the injury it took a couple of months to heal. Working with another prosthetic company in the area, he was fit with a socket that used a patella strap over the knee to hold the socket on and a SACH foot (Solid Ankle Cushion Heel) that had a limited range of motion at the ankle. He spent 2 more months completing his rehab and learning to walk again. Feeling intensely aware that he had brought this problem on himself with his motorcycle riding, he was determined not to fall victim to self-pity and resolved to fight his way back no matter what it took.
Jim was ultimately out of work for a year but finally managed to build up his strength and stamina enough to return to the only work he knew, the hard physical labor of the docks. What followed was many years of problems with a series of artificial legs that was exacerbated by the punishment these legs took. A lean and wiry guy, he would be lifting and carrying crates of fish weighing up to 135 pounds; sometimes for as much as 14 hours a day. Jim reports that the first prosthesis was too short and wound up producing back problems. Other prostheses produced skin breakdown that would lay him up for extended periods of time. When one particular prosthesis cracked, he tracked down some plaster of paris bandaging, wrapped it up like a cast and went back to work. In 1988, he took a fall when he wasn't wearing his leg and broke the bone at the end of his limb resulting in another tough rehabilitation. He went back to work for a period of time wearing a socket that suspended him from his thigh with the end of his limb hanging free because he couldn't tolerate any weight bearing.
The fit of the prostheses continued to produce problems with Jim's skin and in 1989 the infection became so bad that he wound up going back into the hospital for surgery to remove the infected end of the limb. He recovered from this, went through another lengthy re-hab and got himself back to work. Going through 4 legs in all, in 1999 the skin breakdown once again became so severe that he had to go through surgery again.
We met Jim in 1999 following this second surgery when Jim decided to look around and see who else could help him with a new prosthesis. Because of his high activity level we designed a prosthesis for Jim with a suction suspension socket that keeps the leg firmly in place with almost no up and down movement when he's walking. His skin is doing great now and he says that this is a "really comfortable leg". He's still doing physical labor but recently began doing construction. He started out working as a laborer for Maine Window & Sunroom and has already been promoted to warehouse foreman. Jim's an active guy even when he's recreating and loves the outdoors. Jim hikes, backpacks, hunts, fishes and even snowshoes.
How did he make it through all this and not give up? Jim says there were some really tough periods but he tries to always keep smiling. When you meet him you sense this huge reservoir of energy. He's always upbeat, has opinions on everything and he usually has a new joke ready to go. Jim says "things only get bad when you let them". It's as if he made it through all of this because somewhere in the course of the rehab and the pain he decided that he was just going to. After that, everything else was just a lot of incredibly hard work to make it come true. |
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