Derrick Campana is a certified orthotist and has worked in the field of orthotics and prosthetics for several years. He created braces and prosthetic legs to help increase animals’ mobility, then improve their lives.
Source: Derrick Campana
Derrick really found his passion 15 years ago when he first worked with the human population before he treated rehabilitated animals. The story began when he was asked to make a prosthetic for a dog by a vet. Though he has never done that before, he decided to take a chance. The result was beyond expectation, he was successful. He thought there are tons of animals that need to be helped out there. And the idea of opening a business making prosthetics for animals began. Now, he is the founder of Animal Orthocare.
Source: Derrick Campana
Source: Derrick Campana
Source: Derrick Campana
Over the past 15 years, Derrick has made prosthetics for 25 thousand animals all over the world. His patients belong to different species. Elephants in Thailand, a ram in Spain, goats, sheep, and llamas. They have one thing in common: they suffered serious injuries. And Derrick's work has been a miracle to help them walk normally.
Source: Derrick Campana
One of the special cases that Derrick helped was Hudson, a dog from New York. Once receiving the request from Hudson’s family, he drove straight off to Hudson’s owner's house to fit the pup with a piece. And guess what, Hudson took off running. At that moment, the owner was sobbing and he was also tearing up. The new prosthesis perfectly fitted him.
Source: Derrick Campana
Derrick was even named the American Humane Association’s 2015 hero therapy dog. Even though he treated around 200 animals every month, he said that there are still many animal owners who don’t even know about those prosthetics. If they know about this therapy, it will change thousands of animals’ lives.“Maybe 20% of the population knows that these options of prosthetics and orthodontic devices exist. If 100% of dog owners knew, then we could treat thousands more dogs and save thousands more dogs’ lives. You don’t have to put them down.” he said.You can watch his story in the video down below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8iDsWL-PNIY