WINDHAM, NH– As the sun set on quiet Cobblers Pond in Windham, staff at the Castleton began to warm up the fireplaces ready to host a red carpet gala in support of the groundbreaking non-profit Less Leg More Heart.
The holiday-themed gala welcomed guests with a red carpet walkthrough serenaded by a live piano artist through a luxury auction. From there, it was into the ballroom for a decadent dinner under the soft light of the Christmas tree. “Since the inception, the vision has been to have a celebration during the holiday season to remind people that they have the opportunity to get to busy. To get to be stressed,” explains founder Tina Hurley, sharing the perspective of gratitude for the ability to provide mobile resources for those in need.
WHAT’S THE VIBE: A shimmering holiday-themed gala encourages all to eat, drink and be merry while learning about life as an amputee.
Started in 2019, Less Leg More Heart provides support to amputees through sourcing running blades, helping bring homes up to safety standards, and connecting individuals with resources to navigate life without a limb. “Anybody that loses any limb – their whole entire world, the entire way they do it changes,” explains Jill Jablonski, Board Member at Less Leg More Heart. “From showering to dressing to cooking, anything that we do. People need help.”
It’s an experience Jablonski understands personally: after experiencing serious complications during back surgery, she was airlifted to a hospital where doctors were thankfully able to save her life with the loss of her leg. What Jablonski found when she came home was strikingly similar to the story shared by Tina. “Going through her recovery there were so many things. So many questions, so many obstacles. We didn’t have the answers and we were low on stamina just thinking. Like, we’re just trying to get through it, we’re just trying to survive,” recalls Tina’s mother, Terry Freeman. “They’ll go home and their home is not safe for them to navigate around or go in the bathroom and get cleaned.”
Tina’s best friend, Michelle Vaira, vividly recalled the ‘dark place’ she watched her best friend go to, unable to continue to lead a life of independence. “She was kind of just left on her own to navigate the system which was pretty devastating and from there on out we knew there had to be something we could do to make a change.”
It wasn’t just Tina’s own personal experience that drove her to found the non-profit. “I was amputating legs for a living as a vascular surgery first assist and making amputees. At the same time I actually lost my leg, I was rounding on my patients on a knee scooter with a freshly amputated limb serving amputees at bedside,” she explains. “It was in that perspective that I saw so many issues that I as a P.A. was never going to be able to fix. I got sick of writing in charts and not being able to solve the problem so I kinda took a stab at trying to make some solutions.”
The name Less Leg More Heart came from a sign worn by Heather Abbott in a campaign for the Boston Marathon. It was a phrase that stopped Tina in her tracks as she reflected on her experience losing more and more of her leg to surgery, while gaining perspective and gratitude that moved her to advocate for a better system for amputees. “It’s shocking how many people are discharged. Home. Wheelchair dependent, and can’t get upstairs to bathrooms, downstairs to laundry, into their bathrooms, sponge bathing, they’re not able to do dishes, they can’t get outside of their house in the event of a fire, of God forbid to grocery shop to feed themselves. It’s not medically necessary for insurance for people to have ramps for their home. So access doesn’t matter so people get lifted like refrigerators into their own homes. And they’re stuck inside.”
The most impactful, simple way anyone can help an amputee? Tina says to ask them one question: How are you? “If more people did that for everyone, I feel like more people would be helped because they’d be stronger and more supported.”
To learn more about Less Leg More Heart, visit their website.
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Emmalyn Reid 