Living Beyond Limits
February 22, 2012 / By Shellie Nazarenus
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At the age of 19, Amy Purdy lost the lower half of both legs due to a near-death battle with bacterial meningitis. Now, eleven years later, the double amputee has conquered professional snowboarding with back-to-back world cup adaptive female champion titles. A number one ranking, thanks in large part, to medical innovations she fortuitously encountered in her comeback journey.
One of the turning points in Purdy’s rehabilitation was her introduction to Irvine-based Freedom Innovations, which specializes in developing world-class lower limb solutions. The company’s president and UCI’s Chief Executive Roundtable member, Maynard Carkhuff, introduced Purdy to a UCI audience in the Calit2 auditorium earlier this month.
“This young lady has defied the odds on the mountain and in life,” Carkhuff shared. “I have had the privilege of working with her at Freedom Innovations as an advocate spokesperson on product development.”
Purdy explained how she engineered her first prosthetics to give her the flexibility she needed for snowboarding. “They aren’t pretty to look at… held together with a lot of screws and pink duct tape.”
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The inspirational speaker shared her personal story, “Living Beyond Limits,” with campus senior administration and members of the Roundtable as part of their annual winter forum showcasing UCI and Orange County innovations. This year’s event, held at Calit2, focused on technology breakthroughs that impact healthcare delivery and improve patient outcomes. After her presentation, Purdy was joined by a panel of experts who are leading innovative projects at UCI. Bruce Tromberg directs the Beckman Laser Institute which develops biophotonic technologies that provide patients with advanced therapeutic and diagnostic clinical procedures; Michael Stamos chairs the department of surgery which leads the nation in minimally-invasive, robotic procedures; and as CEO of UCI Medical Center, Terry Belmont, cited a number of technology-laden transformations underway at the newly redesigned Douglas Hospital.
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The evening also included open house-style, research demonstrations in Calit2’s third floor eHealth Collaboratory. More than a dozen prototypes were on display for forum participants to experience. Students and their faculty mentors were on hand to explain the projects and answer questions.
“This was the first time for many of our Roundtable members to visit Calit2,” said Goran Matijasevic, director of the CEO Roundtable. “They were very impressed with the facility and the research taking place in the Collaboratory. Some of the CEO’s expressed interest in bringing back a team from their company to explore further partnership opportunities.”
--Shellie Nazarenus