Mr. Beast helped 2,000 amputees - NOW what?

And that is not the end of the story. Well hello there my beautiful lovely internet friends, welcome back to my channel. It's been a minute, but Mr. Beast released a video where he helped 2,000 people walk again, many of whom were amputees. And breaking news, Footless Joe is indeed missing a foot. I'm an amputee and I want to talk about this video for a lot of different reasons, but specifically, now what? Walking is something most of us take for granted every day. But for millions of amputees all around the world, they don't have that same luxury. But in this video, for 2,000 people, that is about to change. Okay, let's slide it on in. Okay, what do you think? Feels wonderful. All right, you ready to stand up? Wow. We watch videos like this and in my brain I always call it like we get our piece of candy, we get our feel good, oh my god, their life worked out kind of moment. Isn't that incredible? But I know from very personal experience that that is not at all where the story ends. Someone needs a leg, they are unable to because insurance don't help them because their systems are broken, or because they don't have access to medical care in different parts of the world. And while $5,000 to $50,000 is already too expensive for most people, that price tag is felt even heavier in developing countries. Which is what brought me to Guatemala to meet David, who founded the Range of Motion Project to address the lack of prosthetics for the underprivileged. Someone comes in, financially gives them the ability to get access to this, and you get this really inspirational, heartwarming, feel-good story. It's like a 10 minute, 15 minute video. You turn it off and think, damn, that's amazing. Those people can walk again. And as someone who is intimately aware with how important, for me, the ability to use a prosthetic leg is, yes, anyone who wants access to a prosthetic and is finally able to get that, I am so thrilled for them. I am absolutely ecstatic. That is amazing, that is life-changing. However, what you might not know is there is a lot more to the story. And that part of the story, my friends, is not always tied nicely with a bow that makes everybody feel good. So before I became an amputee, I would see clips and stories and things on social media of amputees walking for the first time. I had no idea that this is such a lifelong process of trying to keep the ability to walk. When someone gets a prosthetic device, there is a lifetime of ongoing care and adjustments that need to be made. On average, if you've been an amputee for a while, if your limb has sort of settled after surgery or whatever trauma it's been through, you get a prosthetic leg, the socket fits well. If you're really lucky and your body is super stable and you have no issues, maybe that'll work well for three years. I have never had that experience. Literally no amputee that I have ever met in real life has had that experience. I'm sure they exist. To keep that thing fitting well, the socket, which is the part that goes around what is left of whatever limb you're talking about, you need adjustments and adjustments and adjustments and eventually new sockets because your limb is a living body part still, which means it's ever changing. There are a lot of reasons why the socket you had before might not work anymore, and it can be honestly anything. It could be weight fluctuation, gaining or losing weight. It can be that there's irritation, a skin issue, maybe you've developed a pain spot that makes it too uncomfortable for you to walk, so you need adjustments or a whole new prosthetic. There is a continual atrophy, which is shrinking that happens over time with residual limbs. When you're seeing videos and stories like this, realistically what you're seeing for most people again is getting the ability to start walking again on something that will hopefully last a few months to maybe three years, but by no means is it the end of the story. If you have been watching my videos for any length of time, you'll know that a lot of the videos, a lot of my story that I've shared are about trying to keep that ability to walk, are about getting new legs, trying different things, having more surgeries. Right now I do have the ability to walk, but I am in a lot of pain because there's another neuroma. I need another surgery, which means we have to start from scratch with a socket on the other side of that surgery, because my limb will have changed. For me personally, I think I've probably gone through like 30 different sockets, and I've been an amputee for six years, and I'm gonna sidebar here for just a second and talk about my reaction to watching that video, because I'm an amputee on the internet, and a lot of people sent it to me. I was aware of it coming out, but I will say something that is particularly targeted at our healthcare system. The fact that videos like this are made and then celebrated obviously points out an issue, right? Why do we need YouTubers to come in and fund people getting prosthetic care worldwide, and also here in America? Like that's where Mr. Beast's video started, is people who were underinsured or their insurance wouldn't cover it. By the way, insurance companies have been denying people prosthetic coverage, questioning their medical necessity, which I am sure I will do an entirely different video on. If your meat leg, you know, you've got a knee and you need knee replacement surgery, that's many thousands of dollars, but it is very common for that to be covered by insurance, because you need a walk, right? Unless you're missing a leg. Do you really? Do you really need a walk, right? I doubt that me telling you our insurance and healthcare system is pretty broken is going to come as a newsflash to you. The other reason I want to make this video is to talk about Range of Motion Project, which is the organization Mr. Beast flew down to Guatemala to help out with, because I know them, they are amazing, and I do want to point out a few things from the video. Romp in particular provides a year of continued care after a patient receives that prosthetic limb, including the cost, which is absolutely amazing, but like I said, that is just one year of someone's hopefully long lifespan of needing continual prosthetic care and adjustment. A lot of people, myself included, have a variety of opinions about Mr. Beast himself, but I know this organization is absolutely incredible, and the work that they do down there to get people in underserved communities prosthetic care is outstanding. I've donated, I've helped in ways that I can, and I will continue to, because what they are doing is important. David found a simple way to maintain quality at only one-tenth the cost. Everything that you see here is part of our global inventory of recycled components, so everything in this room is recycled from some other prosthetic. A lot of it is still functioning. They use recycled prosthetic parts. One of their warehouses is not far from me up here in Denver, and they get people walking again, they get them therapy before and after. There's a whole process that people go through, so they're not just like giving them a leg and throwing them out in the world, right? What they do, they do very well. Also, if you know someone or are someone who has additional prosthetic parts, you can donate them, and they will be used to build new prosthetic legs. I actually made a video a long time ago where I was like, what do you do with your extra prosthetic parts? I don't know! Like, the video's up, I need to take it down, because the answer is you can donate them, and they can be made into new legs for people, the more you know. Another issue that can happen when people with a lot of money come in and are doing this thing that looks good and for many people is good, right? Like, people were able to walk again, that's amazing, is that when they're then working with organizations that serve these communities, hopefully, fingers crossed, those organizations get a lot of donations to be able to continue what they're doing. And this video is a fundraiser for ROMP specifically. Please click the link down below if you have any $5, $50, whatever it is, it will help. With ROMP specifically, it costs about $2,000 to get someone a new leg, but what you also get is a lot of new applicants who have heard the amazing news about, oh my god, maybe I could actually get access to a leg. And there's hope, and there's excitement there, and there are a ton of applications that come in. And to be able to continue to serve these communities, they need funding, and after such a huge video like this that is going out to millions and millions of people, I am certain that applications have come pouring into ROMP, and to be able to help these people, they need the funding and the backing to be able to do that. How I've looked at disability for a long time, and there are a lot of disabled people in the world, 25% of the population is living with some kind of disability. The core of what it means is that you are someone who is existing in a world that is not built for you. And the more tools that we can get people to be able to live in the world the way that it is, where it's not catering to the fact that I am missing a leg, right? ADA compliance is a thing, but you walk or you roll around Denver, which is a major city, our world the way it is, is not made to be accessible to you. And so the more things that we can do to get people help, to get access to the care that they need, to be able to exist in this world, that is something to my core I will always believe is a really good and beneficial thing. Thank you so much for listening, check out the ROMP donation link down below, and to you watching this video right now, thank you for spending a few minutes out of your day here with me today. You could be anywhere else in the world doing anything else, and you chose to listen and talk for a few minutes, that's really cool, and I really appreciate it. I love you guys, I'm going to see you in the next video. Bye guys!