Amputation is the removal of a limb by trauma, medical illness, or surgery. As a surgical measure, it is used to control pain or a disease process in the affected limb, such as malignancy or gangrene. In some cases, it is carried out on individuals as a preventive surgery for such problems. A special case is that of congenital amputation, a congenital disorder, where fetal limbs have been cut off by constrictive bands. In some countries, judicial amputation is currently used to punish people who commit crimes. Amputation has also been used as a tactic in war and acts of terrorism; it may also occur as a war injury. In some cultures and religions, minor amputations or mutilations are considered a ritual accomplishment. When done by a person, the person executing the amputation is an amputator. The oldest evidence of this practice comes from a skeleton found buried in Liang Tebo cave, East Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo dating back to at least 31,000 years ago, where it was done when the amputee was a young child.
In medicine, a prosthesis, or a prosthetic implant, is an artificial device that replaces a missing body part, which may be lost through physical trauma, disease, or a condition present at birth. Prostheses are intended to restore the normal functions of the missing body part. Amputee rehabilitation is primarily coordinated by a physiatrist as part of an inter-disciplinary team consisting of physiatrists, prosthetists, nurses, physical therapists, and occupational therapists. Prostheses can be created by hand or with computer-aided design (CAD), a software interface that helps creators design and analyze the creation with computer-generated 2-D and 3-D graphics as well as analysis and optimization tools.
Richard Evans Mofe-Damijo, popularly known as RMD, is a veteran Nigerian actor, writer, producer, lawyer, and former journalist. He was also a former Commissioner for Culture and Tourism in Delta State in 2009. In 2005, he won the Africa Movie Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role. He received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 12th Africa Movie Academy Awards in 2016. In 2024, he was honoured with the Industry Merit Awards alongside Iya Rainbow at the 2024 Africa Magic Viewers' Choice Awards.
Globacom Limited, commonly known as Glo, is a Nigerian multinational telecommunications company founded on 29 August 2003 by Mike Adenuga. As of June 2018, the company employs more than 3,500 people worldwide.
Cameron Clapp is an American athlete. As a triple amputee, he has become a motivational speaker, mentor to young amputees, and amputee activist. He is also an actor.
Kellie Lim, a triple amputee due to bacterial meningitis at age 8, graduated near the top of her class at UCLA medical school in 2007 after having been given only a 15% chance of survival. Lim was born in Michigan and raised by her blind mother, Sandy Lim, in Detroit. She cites her experience as an ill child as the reason she chose to become a pediatrician. She does not use a prosthetic arm, and performs most medical procedures with just one arm. She uses prosthetic legs to walk.
Therdchai Jivacate is a Thai orthopedic surgeon and inventor known for his humanitarian activities in providing free prosthetic limbs to impoverished amputees, and for his development of techniques allowing low-cost, high-quality prostheses to be made from local materials. The activities of the Prostheses Foundation, which he founded in 1992 under royal sponsorship from the Princess Mother Srinagarindra, have expanded beyond the borders of Thailand to Malaysia, Laos, and Burma. Jivacate has established Thailand's first and only educational institution of occupational therapy at Chiang Mai University. He has also created an educational programme for children suffering from chronic diseases at Maharaj Hospital in Nakhon Ratchasima. In 2008, he was given the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Public Service.
T42 is a disability sport classification for disability athletics, applying to athletes with single above the knee amputations or a disability that is comparable. This class includes ISOD classified A2 and A9 competitors.
T43 is a disability sport classification for disability athletics, applying to athletes with "Double below knee amputation or similar disability." It includes ISOD classified athletes from the A4 and A9 classes.
Belinda "Bella" Ajoke Olubunmi Disu is a Nigerian business executive, arts enthusiast, published author, and philanthropist.
Kareem Waris Olamilekan, also known as Waspa is a Nigerian hyperrealism artist and art prodigy.
Oluwatoyin Sanni or Toyin Sanni is a Nigerian investment banker, lawyer, chartered secretary, stockbroker, and author. In June 2018, she resigned from United Capital. where she was Group CEO for over four years and in July 2018, she became the CEO of Emerging Africa Capital
Adenike Dasola Oyetunde-Lawal, professionally known as Adenike Oyetunde is a Nigerian media personality, radio host, author, lawyer, social media influencer and life coach. She is the founder of Amputees United Initiative and The Gratitude Hub. In 2021, she was appointed by the Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, as the senior special assistant on persons living with disability.
Hauwa Ojeifo is a Nigerian sexual violence and mental health activist. She is known to be the first Nigerian female to have received a Queen's Young Leader Award for her work.
Jeff Bourns is an American amputee tennis player who helped pioneer the growth and development of Adaptive Standing Tennis.
Spencer West is an American motivational speaker and disability advocate. West became an amputee after being born with sacral agenesis. He speaks about overcoming adversity and uses social media to advocate for the disability justice movement and the LGBT community.
Mandy Horvath is a Colorado based American bi-lateral above knee amputee, creative writer, public speaker, actress and mountaineer. She is notable as the first female bi-lateral amputee to summit the Manitou Incline, Pikes Peak (twice), the Statue of Liberty stairwell to the crown, and Tanzania's Mount Kilimanjaro, without the use of prosthetic equipment- using her arms and hands to crawl. Her successful ascent of Mount Kilimanjaro also awards her title of the first legless woman to summit one of the world's Eight Summits without the aid of prosthetic equipment.
The Irede Foundation (TIF) is a foundation established in 2012 by Crystal Chigbu to educate Nigerians on congenital and acquired limb loss, also on how to associate with and care for children with this kind of loss. The foundation provides free and subsidized artificial limbs for children who cannot afford them. They focus on children within the ages of 0–18 years. The foundation has its laboratory in Lagos for assembling prosthetics. The foundation was named the humanitarian foundation of the year in 2017 by Green October Event 2017.
Robert Kateera sometimes spelt as Katera is a Ugandan social entrepreneur and activist based in Canada. He is the founder of Trudeau Youth Council Foundation, a foundation he founded after his cousin was born without a shinbone. Through the foundation he provides prosthetics and other walking aids to children 18 and under in Uganda.
Temilade Salami known as Global Temi is a Nigerian environmentalist, a circular economy enthusiast, a marine biologist and an author. She was born on the 10th of June Temilade Salami serves as the Executive Director of "EcoWarriors" a prominent network of environmental professionals in Nigeria. She was named as a 2020 Nigeria's 25 Under 25 Leader on Energy and Sustainability, 2018 LASEPA Ambassador against Noise Pollution, 2018 Idea Hub Africa Talent of the Future and a 2018 US Consulate’s Carrington Youth Fellow.
