Cameron in Beijing!

The second day our shift did not begin until 3pm so I took it as my chance to see some of Beijing - the hard way using public transport - buses trains and walking until I somehow managed to find my way to the market I was looking for in the south east of Beijing.  It is a huge city with very little English being spoken which adds to the challenge and for me enjoyment of travelling here.  The market consisted of every kind of antique souvenir imaginable (all most likely fake).  A restaurant called the dumpling house filled a big hole and I made my way back to the village for my afternoon shift from 3pm until 11pm.
 
What became evident early on was that this fantastic service provided free by Otto Bock, was an easy target to be taken advantage of.  Many jobs that come in are not actually the athletes sporting equipment but the coach's or the athlete’s everyday equipment.  Many of the countries these teams represent do not have access to such high quality care.  State of the art components and worldwide specialists in their fields are definitely not something everyone has the fortune of being able to access.  For example 15 year old wheelchairs from India which were falling apart and almost beyond repair are being welded back together and refurbished. 

A Shooter from Mongolia came in wearing a below knee prostheses that was over 10 years old and completely falling apart.  Totally beyond repair, an entire new prostheses is being constructed.  After some translation it was discovered that the athlete himself was a Prosthetist who had made his own leg over ten years ago and had not changed anything since.  A cast was taken by one of the technical directors and the new components were gathered.  Considering:
1) the state of his previous prostheses
2) the fact that it could be another 10 years before the new prostheses is seen to again and
3) Being from Mongolia the harsh conditions the prostheses will be subject to,
all heavy duty components were used.
Cheers Cam.

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