We have lost a friend
Description
Collection
Title:
We have lost a friend
Text:
SEATTLE (AP) - Ernest Martin Burgess, an orthopedic surgeon who helped
thousands of veterans by improving prosthetics, died Wednesday. He was 88.
Burgess was inspired to create better artificial limbs after he saw thousands
of young soldiers needing amputations while he served as an Army surgeon
during World War II.
The University of Washington professor joined colleagues from the U.S.
Department of Veterans Affairs in developing a lightweight prosthetic with a
built-in spring enabling users to run and jump.
Burgess also helped create the computer software ``ShapeMaker,'' which
designs limbs that are lighter, stronger and more flexible, and developed a
technique for below-the-knee amputations, which reduced the number of
above-knee amputations performed.
He founded the Seattle's Prosthetics Outreach Foundation in 1985, and in the
same year received the Olin E. Teague Award, a top Veterans Administration
award.
He helped more than 6,000 amputees in Vietnam receive free prosthetics and
opened a prosthetic research center near Hanoi's main railroad.
thousands of veterans by improving prosthetics, died Wednesday. He was 88.
Burgess was inspired to create better artificial limbs after he saw thousands
of young soldiers needing amputations while he served as an Army surgeon
during World War II.
The University of Washington professor joined colleagues from the U.S.
Department of Veterans Affairs in developing a lightweight prosthetic with a
built-in spring enabling users to run and jump.
Burgess also helped create the computer software ``ShapeMaker,'' which
designs limbs that are lighter, stronger and more flexible, and developed a
technique for below-the-knee amputations, which reduced the number of
above-knee amputations performed.
He founded the Seattle's Prosthetics Outreach Foundation in 1985, and in the
same year received the Olin E. Teague Award, a top Veterans Administration
award.
He helped more than 6,000 amputees in Vietnam receive free prosthetics and
opened a prosthetic research center near Hanoi's main railroad.
Citation
“We have lost a friend,” Digital Resource Foundation for Orthotics and Prosthetics, accessed November 23, 2024, https://library.drfop.org/items/show/215271.
