LimbFit Founder, Greg Ekbom is a retired General and Vascular Surgeon from Minnesota. Following his 31 year career in Milwaukee, WI, Greg returned to Minnesota to assist in starting a Physician Assistant Program at Bethel College. For the last seven years, he has focused on surgical education and resident training in Chogoria, Kenya and Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

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In January, 2018, while Greg was in Chogoria, his 32 year old son, Doug was hospitalized back in St. Paul, MN with an acute complete thrombosis of his abdominal aorta. By God's grace he survived, but eventually required bilateral below-knee amputations. He was discharged and eventually fitted for prostheses.  At his own request, he joined his father on a return trip to Chogoria in January, 2019. 

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In preparation for the trip, Greg reached out to his contacts at the Global Health Missions Conference where he was introduced to The LN-4 Hand Project. The organization sent 25 prostheses with the father and son team. Two weeks prior to their arrival, the Chogoria Hospital had posted on Facebook to invite any amputees to the clinic and 175 patients showed up!

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After a call with LN-4 to order more prosthetics, Doug, Greg, and Chogoria Hospital staff fitted 70 patients with LN-4 prosthetic hands. Many patients were there with lower extremity amputations. As LN-4 only makes prosthetic hands, the Chogoria Hospital partnered with a hospital in Nairobi to help with fitting lower-extremity amputees.

Upon returning, Greg and Doug began discussing how they might continue to be involved in this type of ministry. They sensed God calling them to encourage, support, and to come alongside the amputee patients in developing countries. Sadly, Doug passed from an accidental overdose on 7/2/19.  Greg started a non-profit called Dignity for the Amputee International in Doug’s memory. 

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Greg’s desire is to continue this work in developing countries, and he shared this desire with Samaritans Purse leadership one year ago. His goal was to establish relationships with hospitals and clinics in developing countries, in order to provide support, encouragement, materials, physical therapists and prosthetists to help the amputee. Samaritans Purse responded and recommended five different places world-wide to focus LimbFit’s efforts. 

This past January, 2020, Greg returned to Chogoria, Kenya with plans to continue supporting the clinic, and surgery and PT staff.  Last March he went to HealAfrica Hospital in Goma, DRC and partnered with the Orthopedic surgeons in starting an amputee clinic. Greg brought 100 prosthetic arms and helped to teach fitting. The lower-extremity prosthetic fitting in Goma was difficult because of lack of prosthetists (and materials), but LimbFit is hoping to eventually meet this ongoing challenge.

 

LimbFit is Powered by Dignity for the Amputee International: a 501(c)(3) nonprofit was started December 13, 2019, with our goal to support, encourage, and provide help for amputees and disabled patients in developing countries worldwide.  We hope to partner with other nonprofit organizations and foundations who share similar objectives and to assist and support  building labs that provide prosthetic/orthotic materials for needy patients. 

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Monthly follow-up Amputee Clinics are continuing in PCEA Hospital in Chogoria, Kenya (re-visited January, 2020)  and started in HealAfrica Hospital in Goma, DRC in March, 2020.