U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) was at the University of Hartford today to highlight the need for wounded warriors, injured by roadside bombs and other explosive devices, to receive better prosthetics and orthotics, as part of his push to pass a comprehensive veterans legislative package that will be before the Senate next week.
If this $10 million measure passes through Congress, the University of Hartford’s Prosthetics and Orthotics program, one of twelve of its kind nationwide, would eligible to compete for grant funding.
“Our nation’s wounded warriors need and deserve the vast benefits from advancing medical technology,” Blumenthal said. “I’m spearheading a comprehensive measure to support research, innovation, and training in prosthetics and orthotics that will help restore limbs and renew lives. This broad legislation would also speed up disability claims, expand skill training, and upgrade job opportunities and health care that all veterans need and deserve. Our most severely injured war fighters, saved by modern battlefield medicine, now should have the best services and equipment.”
Greg Caron, a Marine from Ellington, who lost his legs below the knees in November 2011 from an improvised explosive device, vowed today to assist the university in its research efforts.
“I’m astonished to now know that we have a facility like this going to help better myself and other veterans who have sacrificed body parts,” Caron stated.
Dr. Michael Wininger, an Assistant Professor in the University of Hartford’s Rehabilitative Sciences Department, is proud of his co-appointment to the Department of Veterans Affairs.
“Every day I walk in to work, either here or at the hospital in West Haven, and I am reminded of the great impact you can have on a veteran’s life,” noted Wininger.