2020
The Blesma News for 2020 covering news, activities and fundraising events for limbless veterans.
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Blesma Briefing: The Pandemic and Prosthetics
14 July 2020
This is a timely opportunity to reflect on how things have been since lockdown and look ahead to how things might work in the months to come in respect of prosthetic services. It quickly became apparent that, because of the coronavirus pandemic, there would be a prolonged period of unprecedented change, whilst access to a lot of NHS services would be severely reduced and, in some cases, cease to operate at all. NHS limb services across the UK were told by health authorities to stop routine appointments, not see any new patients, and only see emergency or
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How Douglas Bader rose to fame
10 July 2020
Douglas Bader, pilot and Blesma Member Douglas Bader was perhaps one of Britains’ most well-known limbless veterans. A Blesma Member and Trustee, Douglas joined the Association in an advisory role in 1947. Prior to this, he had already gained a reputation as one of the RAF’s five most deadly pilots, having risen to fame during the Battle of Britain, 80 years ago today… This is the story of his incredible accomplishments and rise to fame. In July 1940, Britain's coalition government was worried about publ
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Bodybuilding Member Aaron is over the Moon
9 July 2020
Blesma-funded sporting gear is helping bodybuilding Member Aaron Moon stay in shape during lockdown – and will hopefully help him secure a new job. The former Royal Marine turned to Blesma for help when demand for home gym equipment skyrocketed following the closure of gyms due to COVID-19. “I was six weeks out from a bodybuilding competition when everything kicked off. I didn’t want all the hard work I’d put in to be for nothing, but finding equipment was almost impossible,” said Aaron, who lost his right leg and sustained other serious injuries whilst servin
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A message from Blesma to Tony Hudgell
9 July 2020
You may recently have seen a story being shared on social media about the incredible five-year-old Tony Hudgell. Tony lost both of his legs as the result of abuse, and even though he is still getting used to his new prosthetic legs he has raised over £1.2million for the NHS by walking with crutches every day in June. We thought that it would be fantastic if we could share a message of thanks and encouragement for Tony, from as many Blesma Members as possible. It is often said that our Membership
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