For The Ages

Reliquary of the Foot of St. Blaise ca. 1260

Amputee #8

Albert Eckhout "Tapula Woman" 1641

Amputees #8

Amputees #7

When you put "Amputee Painting" into google this picture comes up as the fourth image.

amputee by choice

Muybridge

WAR

The First Civil War Amputee

Hanger is reputed to have been the first soldier amputated during the Civil War at the age of 18. Distraught and upset about the crudeness of his "artificial" leg he returned home and spent long hours alone in his room.  Three months later, he amazed his family by walking down the stairs on an artificial leg that hinged at the knee. That invention not only made Hanger's life easier, it made him rich. He made "Hanger limbs" for other area amputees, and the state legislature commissioned him to make artificial limbs for wounded veterans. His patent led to a thriving business. When he died in 1919, Hanger Company had branches in London, Paris, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Atlanta, and Saint Louis. Today, Hanger Orthopedic is traded on the New York Stock Exchange and has more than 1,000 employees in forty-three states.



Famous Amputees #2

French Painter Edouard Manet

Artist Edouard Manet, at age 51, began to suffer greatly at the hands of untreated tertiary syphilis, resulting in partial paralysis and great pain. He had been inflicted for years and was one among twenty percent of the population with this disease. At this point he contracted gangrene that required his left foot be amputated; he died 11 days later on April 30, 1883.

Famous Amputees #1

Sarah Bernhardt

Sarah Bernhardt - (October 22, 1844 - March 26, 1923) was a French stage actress, and has been referred to as "the most famous actress in the history of the world". In 1905, while performing in Victorien Sardou's La Tosca in Rio deJaneiro, Bernhardt injured her right knee during the final scene which required her to leap from a high wall. The leg never healed properly. By 1915, gangrene had set in and her entire right leg was amputated, confining her to a wheelchair for several months. She continued her career, and contrary to belief, without the use of a wooden prosthetic limb. Her physical condition confined her practically to immobility on the stage, but the charm of her voice, which had altered little with age, ensured her triumphs.