Cameron in Beijing!

The Aussies have arrived.  Walking around the village just became more interesting for me personally.  It is amazing to see so many people from so many different countries with so many disabilities.  For me amputees are most interesting.  What type of socket they are wearing, what componentry has been used, their gait pattern.  Many of the amputees do not necessarily compete on prostheses - they might be swimmers, compete in wheelchairs or from the ground.  Many of those that do compete on prostheses often have a competition prosthesis and an everyday walking prosthesis.  Thus the prostheses that are walking around the village provide a good international comparison of the highest level of prosthetic standards each country provides for everyday use.  And believe me it is not a level playing field.

But with the Australians in town I now have the chance seeing people I know with prostheses I have worked on.  I ran into Chris Nunn the head Australian coach and some of his colleagues.  Steve Wilson was having a salad lunch in hope of shedding a few extra kilos’ for the 100m and the 400m.  His preferred event the 200m which he is currently running P.B’s in unfortunately is under threat of not having him compete.  He ran a qualifying time back in Australia at what was believed by everyone to be a fully sanctioned meet, only to find out later that it was not and he therefore has not qualified.  I will keep you posted on his progress here.  There is also some doubt as to whether Australia will field a 4x100m relay team.  Australia has done particularly well in this event previously (gold medal world record in Sydney 2000 and bronze in Athens 2004) However Neil Fuller has not been allowed to compete at late notice and there is talk of a protest no show in this event.

Work yesterday picked up a bit as more and more countries arrived and word got around about the service centre.  Wheelchairs still remained the majority of jobs being done.  My experience with wheelchairs goes as far as inflating the odd tyre of a patients chair back home.  Thus I tried to leave the wheelchairs to the wheelchair expert and focus more on the prosthetic issues.  The two jobs of note were from a Chinese archer and a Chinese sit volleyball player. 

The Chinese archer had a fixed knee contracture and needed a foot with a lot of movement when working to compensate for his knee.  He was currently using a Greissinger foot which although old technology was not a bad prescription for him.  He wanted a different foot put on and surprisingly new the code of one of the most expensive feet we had in stock!  Instead we tried another multi-axial foot which he liked for standing in the archery position but which was too stiff for him to walk with considering his knee flexion contracture.  He decided he would like that foot but was not happy when we wouldn’t give his old foot back.  After some negotiating we gave it too him knowing full well he would probably only use the new foot for competition and go back to the old foot for walking after his events.  We are here to help competitors and in the end here we did.   

The Chinese Sit volleyball player was a different story altogether.  He was an above knee amputee who had had his socket made only a few months ago.  His stump was very short and he was not getting into the socket at all, instead using it like a plug fit.  After a few modifications to the socket to try and make it as big as possible, and installing a valve to help him pull himself into the socket his comfort had improved considerably.  After making a few adjustments to his knee joint he left with whole new way of donning his prostheses and a smile on face.  The socket fit was far from perfect but and improvement on what it was and all we could do without making him a new socket.

Eating in the main hall with the athletes has become a regular occurrence and always an eye opener.  The food quality is good – found some Cha sew Bow and I am getting to eating duck pancakes twice a day! 

Off to the forbidden city tomorrow….

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