"Showing that there is life after amputation" | Meeting with Olivier, orthoprosthetist and his patient Yoann.
Hello Yoann and Olivier. How did you hear about U-Exist ?
Olivier : I have known Simon the founder since he left school. Yoann had also met him during a ski weekend organized by Ottobock with the association ADEPA. Simon had organized a contest on this occasion and Yoann who is a quadri amputee had won several pairs of U-Dress.
Yoann: yes, then I placed an order for tibial prostheses, then arm prostheses. It's good to have non traditional aesthetics, more worked and personal. My current arm prosthesis represents the tattoo I have on my back on a python pattern, I really like it.
Yoann, is there a before/after customization for you?
Yoann: no, the flesh color did not bother me especially on my prostheses. Afterwards, it's true that people come more easily to discuss when you have a more aesthetic and design prosthesis. For my family it was different, my mother for example had a hard time with the non traditional side, she didn't want me to be noticed.
How long have you both known each other?
Yoann: We have known each other since I was an amputee in 2007. After my rehabilitation, Olivier took care of my arms and one of his colleagues of my legs, then I met several prosthetists before being able to centralize everything at Olivier in Orthofiga.
I understand that you have done a lot of things together?
Yoann : yes, we took part in a first course of "sur "vie in Corsica, but also a big trip to Greenland, week-ends of surfing, climbing, skiing, diving, hiking...
Olivier : we have been organizing surfing days and weekends in the Lorient area for almost 12 years with the association Breizh Winner that we created with Orthofiga. In Brittany there is also the association VAGDESPOIR which is very active and thanks to which Yoann had the opportunity to do sand yachting and surfing.
What did you think of these experiences?
Yoann: it was great, it allowed us to discover ourselves a little more. Before the first training course of "on" life we asked ourselves a lot of questions, we didn't know too much what we were going to be eaten, with a group we didn't know necessarily, in an exotic place... but in the end it was a nice surprise.
What did this "on life" training course consist of?
Yoann : we left for four days and three nights in the Corsican maquis, in the Ortolo valley. We lived in total autonomy with a simple tarpaulin to sleep, a comforter, underpants and a t-shirt that we had to wash in the evening in the river. To eat, we had "survival" rations, i.e. cans of food, sardines... the minimum, but enough to eat.
Olivier: the objective was to hike, to set up a camp each night and to share some tips like starting and maintaining a fire, collecting wood, setting up a camp, creating a bivouac with a simple tarp and a sleeping bag, discovering nature and looking for edible products, knowing how to tie knots, making a stretcher to move a wounded person or crossing a river without dirtying one's pack or clothes. A bit of autonomy around the camp as well, such as washing dishes, bathing, filtering water. It was soft survival, we are not in the extreme. The goal is to know some basics to be autonomous in the forest, while working as a team. During this training course, we were organized in pairs. I was Yoann's partner and I helped him to make food in the camp. There were a total of 5 amputees and a guide, Frank Bruno, who is a tibial amputee himself. I was accompanied by another able-bodied person in case of any problem. In summary, it was mainly to have a good time in the nature, to learn things and create cohesion, so that everyone learns from each other.
"Showing that there is life after amputation"
Do you have any other excursions to tell us about?
Olivier: yes we also did some skiing through the association ADEPA. It was quite an adventure with Yoann who has neither arms nor legs and who had never seen snow (laughs).
Yoann : yes it was quite epic. I fell many times the first time, but much less the second time. We also made a beautiful trip in Greenland, always with our guide Frank Bruno who made us the honor to invite us in his house there, where he goes two-three times in the year. We spent 15 days there, it was grandiose, exotic, we really live in another world.
Olivier : Frank organizes excursions through his association Bout de Viemainly sea courses in Corsica. The goal of his association is to show that there is life after amputation. After the survival course, he proposed to both of us to join him for two weeks in Greenland. We were also with a blind person and his companion. We were isolated for ten days in a hunters' cabin, we hiked and lived at the rhythm of nature, picking, fishing, preparing our food, fetching water from the stream... We had a small boat that allowed us to move from fjord to fjord to hike, see lakes, waterfalls, glaciers...
What is your feedback after this great trip?
Yoann: at the beginning it was not easy to talk about it, it is still the case. It's almost personal, you have to have lived it to understand what I felt there. I don't think anyone can imagine how different we can live, you have to see it to believe it. I don't talk about it much because it's hard to understand.
Olivier: Life there is completely regulated by nature. If the weather is good, they go hunting and fishing. If the weather is bad, they maintain their equipment, take care of their pack of dogs which requires a lot of time, they make crafts, make clothes, or prepare the beautiful season. As soon as they have a window of opportunity, they go hunting or fishing on the ice floes, schedules mean nothing to them. The appearance, the communication, everything is absolutely different, so it is true that it is hard to transcribe, it is almost more an emotion than a discussion.
Yoann : what I also remember from this experience is to have gone with Marie who is blind. I had the impression that she could see, that she felt a lot of things, it was incredible. Everything was beautiful, we had no obstacles. It also allowed me to discover myself, I realized that I could do many more hikes than I thought.
"See something other than high-level sport."
The goal behind these excursions is to challenge yourself?
Yoann: yes and from the moment you accept to leave your comfort zone, that's when you discover that it's not so bad after all, because afterwards you'll find it again...
Olivier: what I also find good is to see something else than high level sport. Now we know amputees since the London Olympics, running with Oscar Pistorius etc... it's great, but it still represents a minority, they are aliens compared to us. For amputees it's the same thing, the high level represents a trunk in a trunk. As a prosthetist, my goal is to make my patients walk. We can make them run, but an elderly patient who comes out of rehabilitation, his objective is not going to be the Olympic Games, so if he wants to be autonomous at home and be able to go and buy his bread with his car, that is his challenge. It's just the cursor that is different but it's the equivalent of the preparation of a high level athlete.
Apart from Greenland which was really exceptional, we also did a lot of hiking near our home in Brittany, and that's accessible to everyone. When I organize hikes or bike rides, I could do exactly the same with my family. I think it can be the trigger to show a patient that they can do it and on their own. We can all do it, unlike the Olympics.