2/4/2008  Charlotte, NC Small, Minority Clinic Takes Leap of Faith and Becomes the First in Charlotte to Offer Bionic Foot to Amputees! Knowing the odds against them, Rondell Richardson and Rico Phronebarger took a leap of faith together when they opened Impact Prosthetic Solutions, the Charlotte area’s only African American owned orthotic and prosthetic company, in January. Now, they are pleased to announce that Impact is the first prosthetic and orthotic facility in Charlotte to be PROPRIO Foot™ Certified and have a patient walking on a PROPRIO Foot™ by Ossur. Seeing amputees walk on the bionic foot was worth defying the odds. Pauline Lampshire is glad they did. Lampshire was told that she would never walk again after she lost her limb show-jumping at an equestrian competition. The below-knee amputee is now defying odds of her own. “It takes less effort to walk with the PROPRIO foot. Walking up and down hills is easier,” she said. “I am grateful to Impact. I wouldn’t be where I am today without them.” Lampshire is still active in equestrian sports and plans to go hiking with her new foot this spring. The bionic foot’s anatomically correct response creates a more symmetrical and balanced gait, reducing the need both to “hip hike” and load the entire body weight on the sound limb. “This reduces the energy that patients spend in reacting consciously to the environment,” said Ian Forthergill, Ossur’s clinical bionic expert and prosthetist. While the PROPRIO Foot™ by Ossur is new to the public, the Department of Defense and the VA have already been using it to benefit servicemen returning from the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts, as well as veterans of past wars. With the introduction of this remarkable prosthesis, Impact Prosthetic Solutions is now offering the most advanced prosthetic technology available in the world. This new era is one in which artificial limbs take one giant step closer to replicating the natural functioning of the lost limb. Impact Prosthetic Solutions looks forward to continue delivering bionic technology to other amputees. Impact Prosthetic Solutions offers prosthetic consultations free of charge. If you have any questions or comments regarding these details please contact news@iprosthetics.com.