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Church Humanitarian Efforts

ZealouslyStriving

By ZealouslyStriving
in In The News

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Calm Grand Master

Calm

Posted
Posted (edited)

That is impressive. 

The links for church news getting broken all the time bugs me. You might want to add a note they may be able to find the article by simply searching on the title part of the url, both as a quote and without quotes if that doesn’t work.  Generally I can find articles that way easier than keywords…and since the links for the newsroom are the titles, it generally works.  Whether works for the non church news, not so familiar with that. 

Edited by Calm
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  • 8 months later...
Calm Grand Master

Calm

Posted
Posted (edited)

I think this is another brilliant idea.  Love that the Church is doing this.  I am wondering if Elder Bracken did this for his career*** and is now retired and pitched it to the Church as a mission effort:

https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/samoa-mobile-prosthetics-clinic-brings-hope-to-amputees

Quote

Recognizing the urgent need for prosthetic care in Samoa, the Brackens transformed a 27-foot trailer into a fully functional mobile clinic.

In October 2024, they arrived in Savai’i and began providing prosthetic limbs to individuals. Over five months, they helped 36 individuals, including Masae.

Creating prosthetics takes a structured process. First, the team casts the patient’s residual limb, fills the mold with plaster, modifies it, and vacuum-forms the socket. The mobile clinic allows team members to manufacture prosthetics on-site, ensuring personalized fittings and immediate adjustments.

***Yep.

https://www.facebook.com/UtahProstheticsOrthotics/

From a few comments on the FB page about their American Samoa receptionist, my guess is they had/supported a clinic in American Samoa before retirement.  Once they retired, they could take it on the road.

This may be the connection, posted in 2019

https://www.samoanews.com/local-news/lbj-announces-new-service-orthopedic-knee-replacement-surgery?

Edited by Calm
Calm Grand Master

Calm

Posted
Posted

Also with more detail:

https://www.thechurchnews.com/living-faith/2025/05/19/service-prosthetics-samoa-senior-missionary-walking/

Quote

While visiting in 2013, Nylene Bracken met a young sister missionary whose prosthesis wasn’t suited for the warm island climate, causing her prosthetic foot to disintegrate. Due to the pain that this caused, the missionary was scheduled to go home the following day. 

While missionaries held a special fast, Matt Bracken fashioned a new prosthesis for the missionary so that she could continue her mission. 

The need for prosthetics in Savai‘i

In Samoa, there are two main islands, Upolu and Savai‘i. Two years ago, Elder Bracken learned that of those receiving amputations in Upolu, half of the amputees are from the island of Savai‘i. Elder Bracken discovered that most Savai‘i amputees don’t return to Upolu to get fitted for a prosthetic; for most, it’s too expensive.

From that moment, “I knew exactly what our mission would be,” Elder Bracken said.

A custom-made mission

Elder and Sister Bracken said that with a lot of moving parts, the first step was to find a place to fashion prosthetics, starting at home in Utah a year before their mission.

After a prompting, Elder Bracken transformed a 27-foot trailer into a mobile prosthetic clinic.

Elder O. Vincent Haleck, an emeritus General Authority Seventy and a native of American Samoa, helped Elder Bracken find a way to ship the trailer to Samoa. Fiji water company offered to ship the 15,000-pound trailer for free. 

As the Brackens began collecting the prosthetics they would use, they reached out to a number of organizations for help.

 

Good people…

Quote

Elder and Sister Bracken had spent $60,000 to $80,000 of their personal money to make their mission a reality.

Quote

“I’ve developed this Savaiian protocol,” explained Elder Bracken. “I fit them, and then I have the young sisters or elders come, and they stand on each side of them and hold them in a position like they are crutches.”

The missionaries visit patients each day, walking with them for 30 minutes until they gain the strength to do it themselves. 

Epenesa Young, a Samoan physical therapist, has also donated her time helping Elder Bracken’s patients.

“She sees what we‘re doing with the elders and sisters, and at one point she said, ‘These kids are angels,‘” he explained.

Though Young is not a Latter-day Saint, Elder Bracken said she is “a miracle worker. We‘ve had her come in and teach people how to stand and walk.”

And as a native Samoan, she can speak the language. Sister Bracken explained, “She knows how to walk into a house and assess exactly what that amputee needs.”

 

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