A Forever Family

How four local boys found their way home

The story of Joshua, Brandon, Benjamin and Hamilton shows the power of compassion in action— and how loving foster and adoptive parents can make a difference for life.

The four local brothers were removed from their home in May 2009 due to physical and emotional abuse. A neighbor initially took in the four boys, but the living situation proved difficult for the new caretakers, and elder brothers Brandon and Joshua entered foster care. Meanwhile, the biological mother surrendered her parental rights to the older boys, hoping to regain custody of twins Benjamin and Hamilton.

Joshua and Brandon flourished with foster parents, Rebecca and Richard Farling. The boys felt safe and loved, but they missed their younger brothers. The Farlings had committed to adopting all four boys, yet Benjamin and Hamilton remained with their caretakers. Desperate to be reunited with their siblings, Brandon and Joshua wrote letters pleading to the court.

Brandon wrote movingly about the pain of being separated from his brothers, saying that he had finally found “a place to belong” and wanted to share it with them. Joshua wrote that he was uncomfortable with the twins’ living situation, and he expressed his hope that they too could join in the lifelong bond of adoption.

On April 23, 2012, after much testimony, the judge read the boys’ letters, and there wasn’t a dry eye in the courtroom. The judge ordered that the twins, Benjamin and Hamilton, be placed with their siblings, Joshua and Brandon. Three years after being removed, all four siblings were back together in one home and have found their forever family together.

Today, Brandon attends the University of Florida and will graduate in December 2016 with a degree in Psychology. Joshua will soon graduate from the United States Navy’s Nuclear Program in Charleston. Twins Benjamin and Hamilton are “A” students who will be enrolled in the sixth grade for the 2016-2017 school year.

The brothers are excelling today because Rebecca and Richard Farling opened their hearts and home to them. Many more young people—and especially siblings ages 9 to 15—still need a loving foundation for life. Please ask yourself if, like the Farlings, you are called to show a child or group of siblings the way home.

To learn more about becoming a foster or adoptive parent, please call Paula Mealy of Kids Central, Inc. at (352) 387-3487, or visit KidsCentralFosterParents.org for more information. Kids Central, Inc. is the nonprofit lead agency charged with caring for abused, neglected and abandoned children in Citrus, Hernando, Lake, Marion and Sumter Counties.

THE POWER OF

A closer look at the science of prosthetics.

BY CYNTHIA MCFARLAND

THERE’S NO DENYING IT. THE LOSS OF A LIMB IS LIFE CHANGING.

Across the United States, there are currently about 1.9 million people living with limb loss. That number is projected to double by the year 2050 because of the increasing rates of diabetes and vascular disease.

• According to the Amputee Coalition, a nationwide voluntary health organization based in Manassas, Virginia, an estimated 185,000 amputations take place in the United States each year.

• 54 percent of amputations are due to complications from vascular disease (including diabetes and peripheral arterial disease).

• 45 percent of amputations are due to traumatic accident.

• 1 to 2 percent of amputations are due to cancer.

• Lower-limb amputations are significantly more common than upperlimb amputations. Bringing this closer to home, 8,787 lower-limb amputations (well over 90 percent) were performed in Florida in 2012, compared to 698 upper-limb amputations that same year.

“One of the most common things people worry about is losing their independence due to amputation, but there is life after amputation. Once they’re through the process of getting a prosthetic, most patients are able to get on with their lives,” says Jeff Insco, CPO, a board-certified prosthetist and orthotist with Hanger Clinic, which has over 750 offices across the country.

Insco works with patients in the Ocala and Inverness offices; he has been designing, manufacturing and fitting prosthetics for over 35 years.

Common Amputation Terminology

+Trans-femoral (above the knee amputation)

Trans-femoral (above

+Trans-tibial (below the knee amputation)

Trans-tibial (below the

+Trans-radial (below elbow amputation)

+Trans-humeral (above elbow amputation)

Beginning The Process

Once a patient knows he or she wants a prosthetic, the first step is determining what is needed. This is highly individualized and depends on multiple things, including the types of activities the person wants to do, whether or not running is something they will want to take part in and the appearance of the prosthetic.

“Generally, I will be coming in after the amputation, but sometimes I’ll consult with the patient beforehand. We can show them a prosthetic device and explain how we’ll proceed through the process,” says Insco. “Sometimes a patient just thinks all they want is to be able to walk and get around, but later on they want to be much more active. A preparatory prosthesis just gets them up and walking, but a few months down the road their outlook has changed and they may want to run a triathlon. Some people overcome and are actually empowered by the situation.”

Timing for receiving a prosthetic can vary greatly. For example, it’s not unusual for some patients to be fitted with a temporary prosthetic right after amputation or within a couple weeks. For other patients, fitting doesn’t begin for several months.

Following amputation, the residual limb must fully heal before a prosthetic can be worn regularly. Once the incision is healed and the swelling has gone down, the prosthetic fitting can take place.

“No two patients are alike,” says Insco. “When a patient has vascular problems, they may also have a lot of other issues, such as being overweight. A military case often involves someone who was 100 percent healthy before their accident, so they don’t have the same issues to overcome as someone who required amputation because of diabetes or cancer.”

One of the most valuable aspects of the process is pairing the patient with a peer counselor, who is also an amputee. The counselor provides priceless support from a been-theredone-that perspective through programs such as AMPOWER, offered by the Hanger Clinic.