Clinicians Who Are Amputees Too: How Peer Support Shapes Recovery
Reading Time: 3 minutes
___
Summary:
-
PACE Prosthetics offers prosthetic services by a team of amputees
-
Pete O’Brien says shared experience gives patients a head start on physical and mental recovery
-
Patient Mario Godshall says clinicians who have lived through limb loss explain care on his level
-
O’Brien says helping patients helps him heal, too, so recovery goes both ways
___
For many living with limb loss, adapting to a prosthesis involves both physical and emotional challenges. Recovery often requires support from peer counselors, a healthcare team, and family and friends. At PACE Prosthetics in Lee County, Florida, the patients’ prosthetic care team also serves as peer counselors because the two clinicians are also amputees. This shared experience shapes how they support their patients’ recovery.
This story shows what compassionate care looks like when the person fitting the device truly understands the emotional and physical hardships of the journey.
A patient who refused to settle
Mario Godshall goes to PACE Prosthetics for his prosthetic care. He is a husband, father, and nurse who underwent multiple amputations due to complications from blood clots.
He told WINK News that, after the amputations, his sense of self has changed completely. Now, he identifies as an amputee, and his concept of normal life—including self-image and routines—has shifted. But he couldn’t accept the idea of spending his life in a wheelchair.
Peers First: What lived experience brings to the clinic
Pete O’Brien, director of prosthetics, and Julian Roach, a clinical prosthetic liaison, are both above-knee amputees. Roach said they see themselves first as peers and peer counselors, and as patients, they understand what their patients feel.
Roach lost his leg at 19 in a motorcycle crash. He described watching his friends move on with their lives while his felt stalled. On top of that jarring experience, he said that the emotional burden is greater when the prosthetic team falls short.
O’Brien’s leg was amputated in 2006 after years of surgeries and knee replacements due to osteosarcoma, an aggressive bone cancer. Today, he still gets emotional when he talks about his own journey with prosthetic care. O’Brien said their shared experiences can give their patients a head start on both physical and mental recovery.
Recovery that goes both ways
For Godshall, his connection with his prosthetist matters as much as the technical side. He mentioned that prosthetists who have been through limb loss themselves know how to explain what’s going on and communicate effectively with patients.
Because of this lived experience, clinicians like O’Brien and Roach can build a prosthesis that can significantly improve a patient’s quality of life; they know first-hand how much of a game changer a good prosthesis is. Roach designed and built Godshall’s custom carbon fiber socket.
But the benefits don’t only flow in one direction. O’Brien shared that helping other patients helps him heal, too.
For Godshall, recovery means taking things one step at a time, and at PACE, he doesn’t have to take those steps alone.
Related Reading:
Why A Peer Visitor Should Be Part of Your Rehab Program
Stages of Emotional Healing After Limb Loss
Choosing A Prosthetist? 5 Tips to Help You Find the Right One
Nationwide Peer Mentorship Network Helps People Thrive After Limb Loss
