Jay Tew And His Team: Giving New Limbs To Haitian Amputees

When the devastating earthquake hit Haiti on January 12, Jay Tew knew where he wanted to be -- helping earthquake survivors who had lost limbs find a new lease on life with prosthetic replacements.

So when the Hanger Orthopedic Group asked Tew to join a medical team on a three month deployment in Haiti, Tew jumped at the chance.

In just over three weeks on the ground, Tew and his medical staff have provided 73 prosthetic legs and 12 prosthetic arms, each custom fit to its recipient. The crew is working out of the Hopital Albert Schweitzer (HAS), an intact hospital located 60 miles outside of Port-au-Prince. New patients just keep pouring in.

The Hopital Albert Schweitzer is expected to play a central role in the rebuilding of the country's health care system.

That's where Tew and his staff come in. They volunteered to spend three months at HAS, fabricating and fitting limbs as part of Hanger's pledge to create an ongoing rehabilitation program training Haitian technicians and treating amputees now and in the future.

"The key is a sustainable center," said Tew. "It's not to come in and make a lot of legs and leave."