More than human: Creative Discovery Museum exhibit helps kids understand how prosthetics improve lives

Corrine Howard, 4, checks out a mono- ski simulator as part of the "Human Plus Day" exhibit at the Creative Discovery Museum on Saturday.
Corrine Howard, 4, checks out a mono- ski simulator as part of the "Human Plus Day" exhibit at the Creative Discovery Museum on Saturday.

IF YOU GO

What: Human Plus: Real Lives + Real Engineering exhibit Where: Upstairs Gallery, Creative Discovery Museum, 321 Chestnut St. Ends: May 10

Engineers as well as athletes were on hand in the upstairs gallery of the Creative Discovery Museum on Saturday to help educate children and their parents about the innovations in orthotic and prosthetic technologies, and the ways people use them to overcome physical limitations in their daily lives.

"Human Plus Day" was part of an ongoing exhibit at the museum that has been up since January. The exhibit, called "Human Plus: Real Lives + Real Engineering," features several hands-on exhibits, from a mono-ski simulator to joysticks that allow children to pick things up with prosthetic limbs. The exhibit also featured examples of the improvements made in prosthetics over the years -- from old 15-pound wooden limbs to the feather-light carbon fiber prosthetics of today.

D.J. Vanderwerf, 17, was there representing Amputee Blade Runners, a nonprofit that provides free sports prosthetics to amputees.

Vanderwerf was born with fibular hemimelia, a birth defect that left him without the fibula in his left leg. His leg was amputated below the knee when he was 9 months old.

Today Vanderwerf is a three-sport athlete at Sweetwater High School, excelling in football, basketball and baseball. In the fall, he'll be the starting quarterback for the football team.

Vanderwerf said the foot he wears, Fillauer LLC's AllPro, is a big improvement over the prosthetics he usedto have.

"It feels just like a normal foot," Vanderwerf said. "Older prostheses were heavier and less agile, but they've really progressed over the years. With this one, I can run, jump, and do whatever I need to in games."

Traci Dralle, Fillauer's director of marketing, said the company has made considerable improvements in the weight and durability of its products.

Dralle said the AllPro is the first foot Vanderwerf hasn't broken within a year, and durability is crucial for someone as active as he is.

Vanderwerf's mother, Tamara Vanderwerf, said his old prosthetics would delaminate quickly from wear and tear. She remembers once taping a paint stirrer onto his broken prosthetic foot to brace it before a baseball tournament.

She got emotional thinking about all of the great things her son has been able to do with the aid of prosthetics.

"When you have a child with a birth defect, and make the decision to have his leg amputated, you'd never think he'd be the jock that he is," she said.

Most of the families in attendance didn't come specifically for Human Plus Day, but Kathleen Howard, who went to the museum to celebrate daughter Corrine's fourth birthday, was struck by the exhibit.

"I really admire people that have physical limitations," Howard said. "I have a bad back, and I complain about it, and I'll let it prevent me from doing things, but then there are people who don't have arms or legs and don't let a single moment pass them by."

Contact Will Healey at whealey@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6731.

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