Sydenham youngster: a War Amps CHAMP

Apr 01, 2010

Leah and her mom Angela Neumann

Five year old Leah Neumann of Sydenham was recently chosen to be a poster child for the War Amps Child Amputee CHAMPS program, one of the many War Amps programs funded by their annual Key Tag donation campaign. Leah is a testament to the fact that children through the help of CHAMPS program are living very happy, healthy and active lives.

Leah and her family have been members of the program since Leah was born without a hand on her right arm. She received her first prosthesis, a passive arm, at just three months old and now currently uses two different helper hands to assist her in all of the activities that a child of her age performs.

One of her prosthesis which she calls her “helper hands” is a passive/recreational arm that has two interchangeable terminal ends: one is a plastic “C” shaped form that she uses for specific activities like gymnastics, climbing, bike riding. The second is an artificial hand that aids her activities that require balance like swimming.

Her second helper hand is mio-electric arm that is muscle controlled by sensors located within the arm itself. It allows her to move the thumb and forefinger so she can hold things and perform certain specialized tasks like cutting with scissors.

Through the War Amp’s CHAMPS program children with missing limbs are provided with financial aid to purchase artificial limbs and a number of other recreational devices which otherwise can be very costly; Leah’s mio-electric hand, for example, costs close to $16,000 and it will eventually need to be replaced with new larger one in roughly three years time as she continues to grow.

The program also provides emotional support and information children and their families through a number of programs. Members also have access to a wealth of information on related topics.

The CHAMPS Program was created in 1975 by War Amps CEO Cliff Chadderton and is built on the Winners Circle philosophy which “encourages children to accept their amputations and to develop a positive approach to the challenges they present“.

Leah and her Mom regularly attend the annual CHAMPS Seminars of Eastern Ontario. The annual event brings together child amputees and their parents to participate in a number of interactive sessions. They are also to meet, learn from and develop lasting relationships with others who are facing similar challenges.

It was at one of these seminars that Angela Leah’s mom was made aware of “C” shaped device that Leah now uses regularly to aid her in climbing, bike riding and gymnastics. “Last year Leah got a bike for Easter and she was having trouble riding it. At the seminar we saw and spoke with a number of different people and found a solution,” Angela recalled.

It was at the latest CHAMPS seminar in Kingston that Leah was photographed holding a line of War Amps key chains. Later Angela was contacted and asked if Leah’s photo could be used.

Angela agreed immediately.

“The program has done so much for us. We went to our first seminar when Leah was just a baby. It was overwhelming for us since Leah was our first child and we had a lot of questions and it was really good for us emotionally to meet other parents and their kids. It was incredibly reassuring to us,” she said.

The CHAMPS program is offered to child amputees in Canada who are 18 years of age and younger and there are adult programs available as well.

The War Amps program generate the majority of their funds from their Canada wide Key Tag and address label donation campaigns as well as though private donations. After meeting Leah and her Mom these relatively small things like key chains and address labels take on a entirely different meaning.

For more information on the various programs available through War Amps please visit their website at www.waramps.ca. You can see Leah’s photo there too.