Amputee support group starting in Palm Springs
A new support group aimed at helping amputees and their caregivers is starting in Palm Springs next week. Organizers say the Desert Amp Crew will help bring a sense of community to people who are sometimes overlooked in society.
Tom Horne and Ed Granados swapped stories of serving their country in the military decades ago at the Palm Springs Air Museum, but they joined a new brotherhood recently. They both are missing a leg.
For Granados, it was a staph infection a couple years ago that led to the amputation of his left leg. Horne had his right leg removed last year after a series of sports-related injuries.
“When this happened to me I had nowhere to go and I thought when they did it ‘you’re done you were out on your own and had to get back on your feet,'” said Granados
These two men and Granados’ wife and caregiver Louanne Granados became certified amputee peer visitors so they can help people going through the amputation process and give advice to their loved ones.
“You have to watch them go through their pain, and when it is somebody that you love you experience a lot of pain yourself,” Louanne Granados said.
“There is an immediate connection when you see someone with an amputation. It is almost like an exclusive club and it’s an instant connection because amputees understand what life is like as one and we learn from one another tackling different issues,” Horne said.
Desert Amp Crew is a free support group that will meet every third Wednesday from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the Palm Springs Air Museum. This meeting allow amputees in the desert to share stories and find ways to make life easier.
“To be able to know that there is someone there that cares enough to listen because you do have pain and that pain needs to be heard,” Ed Granados said.
No matter how severe the amputation the Desert Amp Crew wants all people who are missing a limb, or even both, to know that there is life after amputation and it can be fun, fulfilling and rewarding.
