This past week, the Range of Motion Project, commonly referred to as ROMP, celebrated delivering their 5,000th prosthetic device globally.
ROMP was founded in Chicago in 2005 by David Krupa, Eric Neufeld, and Josh Kaplan and has since relocated its global headquarters to Denver, CO. Though ROMP is Colorado based, ~90% of the staff and impact is in Latin America where ROMP provides high-quality prosthetic care, follow up services, community-based rehabilitation, training for healthcare professionals, and product innovation through its permanent operations in Guatemala and Ecuador.
“When ROMP delivered the first prosthesis in 2005 the idea of eventually delivering 5000 would have seemed ridiculously impossible and daunting. Yet, here we are,” says ROMP Executive Director, David Krupa. “5000 prostheses delivered equates to thousands of lives changed, people back at work, kids back in school, and improved health on many levels. This milestone is a testament to ROMP’s unwavering commitment and the result of hard work by ROMP staff, volunteers and the cumulative generosity of thousands of ROMP donors over these past 18 years.”
ROMP believes that our physical mobility is a critical component of our identity and a building block for economic mobility, social mobility, and community. ROMP understands the dual hardship of living in poverty with a disability and works to help change the broken systems that perpetuate this cycle.
The recipient of this milestone device is Manuel Banses, a 63-year-old farmer who lost his leg in June 2022 to complications from diabetes. Upon receiving his prosthesis, he expressed immense gratitude and was overjoyed to be ROMP’s 5000 delivery. Manuel dreams about being able to walk without assistance soon so that he can return to taking care of his livestock.
Though the impact of 5,000 devices delivered is impressive, ROMP wants to emphasize that mobility is multifaceted. Mobility is an essential human right. A prosthesis alone is not enough. The ROMP approach is community-based because health services work best where patients live. ROMP programs are designed to enhance participants’ physical, mental, economic and social mobility. The prosthetic device is a tool that, alongside countless hours of quality health care and guidance, helps people with amputation become happier, healthier and more productive members of their societies.
