This month we invited Jim from South Carolina to join our company-wide user talk where he shared his journey of getting back to the activities he loves after becoming a sepsis amputee and undergoing a quadruple amputation.  

A lifelong BMX rider, Jim can’t recall when his passion for biking started. “I remember being eight years old and already zooming around all day on my bike,” he recalled. Jim shared photos and clips of the impressive tricks he used to perform “backflips, downhill racing, I used to do all of that stuff until I got sick about a year ago.” 

What Jim initially thought was flu-like symptoms, turned out to be a life-threatening sepsis infection, which ultimately required the amputation of all four limbs to save his life. 

When discussing his recovery, Jim acknowledged that he still has a way to go. “I still feel like I’m in a recovery phase, which I don’t know how long it will last – maybe forever. My biggest priority now is to get my muscle strength back.”

Residing in South Carolina, Jim – a husband and father of two, has always loved the outdoors. Since the amputations, Jim hasn’t found it easy to get back into nature “I went mountain biking a few weeks ago for the first time using my Hero Flexes. But I’m only able to go once a week at the moment as my leg prosthetics still have some fit issues.”  he explained. 

To help him maintain a secure grip on the handlebars Jim was fitted with two Hero Flexes with bike attachment terminal devices. “I have good compression on 90% of my forearm because when I take it [Hero Flexes] off, I can see the cooling channel imprints on my arms.”

Biking with confidence has been a popular request from the upper limb amputees we work with so we’ve decided to launch our own terminal devices to pair with your Hero Flex. These are now available to pre-order from your Open Bionics clinic – just let your clinician know that you’re interested in finding out more about our new terminal devices. We can ship directly to your house without a clinical visit.  

The Hero Flexes weren’t Jim’s first experience with activity-specific prosthetics. “I used to have a body powered carbon fiber socket with a pin lock system and a suction liner. I mostly used socks, but it was very uncomfortable.” Jim said he needed to find a prosthesis that was more obviously designed for sports that enabled cooling. 

When asked about his new 3D printed activity arms, Jim highlighted one standout feature “[The Hero Flexes] have done everything I wanted and needed. They just have all the breathability to it. Sweating is just pretty insane in a carbon fiber socket. You add a gel sock and then inner liner carbon fiber, it’s brutal and it gets pretty hot here in South Carolina.” 

Looking forward, Jim is eager to push his limits on the bike “I want to try supercross tracks, 18 meter tracks, downhill mountain bike racing, racing in a standard class rather than adaptive class, bike gravity, mountain bike single tracks.”

Next year we’re hoping to run some sports specific events with peer mentoring from tri athletes, ultra runners, and mountain bikers like Jim within our community. If you’re a sepsis amputee and you’d like to know more, please sign up to our website and newsletter. 

We’re excited to follow Jim’s journey and will be sure to keep everyone updated on his progress.

I want an activity arm

Ready to upgrade to a new activity arm that keeps up with the beat of your life? Feel the airflow as you move. The Hero Flex is fully ventilated and includes a 3D printed socket made from using flexible materials to give your arm optimal comfort and support as it moves. With lateral flow ventilations, the skin can naturally cool down without moisture build up.

Meet the Hero Flex