Pretzelzcollie

Welcome to my new website! First off I want to thank each and every one of my followers and supporters, I wouldn’t be where I am today if it wasn’t for your encouragement and support. These past few years have been an emotional journey nobody could ever possibly prepare for. From my darkest days immediately following my surgery, to where I am today, I’ve learned how resilient we truly are. I remember saying in the hospital I was going to make this tragedy the best thing that ever happened to me, and I believe I have accomplished that, but this is just the beginning. 

Opportunities presented themselves during my recovery, these opportunities escalated into much more significant achievements. I was blessed with a wonderful career in biomedical engineering, making advanced state of the art prosthetics possible for upper extremity amputees worldwide. This led to me connecting with clinicians and patients, allowing me to help those who have experienced a traumatic limb loss. I’ve traveled all over attending conferences, doing presentations, talking with patients, collaborating with other professionals in the industry, mentoring and motivating those who need someone who understands what they are going through when they need it most. I’ve participated in trial testing of new products, worked closely with clinics, given speeches, overcome my challenges and accomplished new personal goals with the challenges I’ve faced myself.

I can say I’m proud of the person I’ve become. Helping people has been rewarding in so many ways. The anger and darkness in the beginning wondering why me, has dissolved into this newfound perspective that I can make a difference. The challenges I face push me to do better, go bigger and work harder. I’ve got a life goal to crush stereotypes as perceived of folks with physical differences. Absolutely nothing will get in my way of this. I don’t have time to worry about the doubters, or the intellectually incompetent losers of the internet who find enjoyment in mocking disabled people to compensate for their own self failures, it’s an unfortunate reality, but that also motivates me even more to show I’ve got no shame in who I am. 

So much has happened in such a short period of time I’m struggling to keep up with all the requests. I’m also now renovating my much neglected house, in addition to other local obligations, but I will always make time for those who need me. Creating this website seemed to make the most sense to allow people to stay up to date with future events and news. I’m in the process of developing this future as a content creator, life coach, mentor and advocate. While I have had wonderful experiences working in the biomedical engineering industry, which provided a foundation for my future, I didn't feel I was reaching my full potential for helping others being constrained by limitations due to conflicted interests working for a prosthetic company.