Cody McCasland was born with multiple birth defects, and had both legs amputated above the knee when he was just a baby.  His care, and his multiple prosthetic limbs, have been provided by the Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children (TSRHC), which will continue to provide him with prosthetic legs until he is 18. He has become a remarkable role model and spokesperson for the Challenged Athletes Foundation (CAF) and continues to raise money through Team Cody to support both the CAF and TSRHC. To watch the Dateline NBC story about Cody, click here.

While TSRHC provides care to Texas children, and has supported Cody by providing his expensive prosthetic legs at no charge, not every child amputee has access to the same quality of care.  A child without arms or legs needs multiple prosthetics. Not only do they outgrow their prosthetics, but different prosthetics are required for different purposes.  Cody has walking legs as well as running legs.  How do other children with similar issues get the prosthetic limbs and the care they need?  Do most medical insurance plans cover the cost of new prosthetic limbs as a child grows? Are there agencies or foundations that help young amputees with these costs, and with the myriad of issues these children face?

This entry was posted on Monday, August 10th, 2009 at 7:41 am and is filed under amputees, Legs. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.