News
How a Sculptor’s Life Was Transformed After an Unexpected Accident

By Kerry Breen

Edited By Allison Elyse Gualtieri

/ CBS New

Read the article on CBS News

Tyler Theroux came into the world with a brachial plexus birth injury that kept his left arm dysfunctional and contorted in pain. As a child, he couldn’t engage in playground activities like the monkey bars, and his classmates would bully him about the injury.

Eventually, Theroux dropped out of school to be homeschooled. While the teasing stopped, the pain didn’t: His parents watched him experience fresh agony with every growth spurt. The brachial plexus is the group of nerves that sends signals from the spinal cord to the shoulder, arm and hand, and that nerve pain kept him awake at night, despite multiple attempts at surgery and therapeutic treatment.
Hands and fingers are tools people use every day, whether it is to grab a cup or open a door. This is even more true for a sculptor who uses their hands to make art. John Powers, a sculptor in New York’s Hudson Valley, shares how his life was changed after an accident in his workshop.

Powers was using a table saw to cut wood for a fence when the wood jammed and his hand slipped, leaving him with a missing thumb and ring finger. Although this accident was devastating, it’s also inspired Powers to think differently about his art.

Jacques H. Hacquebord, MD, co-director of the Center for Amputation Reconstruction, speaks to PBS NewsHour about Powers, the complex anatomy of the fingers, and prosthetics. “Fingers are some of the most complex sculptures that there are. They are functional sculptures,” Dr. Hacquebord says. “And so he just understands the anatomy without even knowing the anatomy. And I think he kind of looks at the finger and just imagines what the anatomy should be, and how it’s working, and why it’s working, why it’s not, and what he can do to make it better.”

Read The Article Here.

Related Articles

From inspiring patients to thorough research, our blog is for doctors seeking answers and information.

View All
Redefining the Management of Fuchs Dystrophy

Redefining the Management of Fuchs Dystrophy

Since its introduction in the United States in the mid-2010s, Descemet stripping only (DSO) has revolutionized the surgical management of Fuchs dystrophy. Although similar procedures were originally explored in the 1950s and for some time after, these met with little success.

The current technique—pioneered in the United States by Kathryn A. Colby, MD, PhD, the Elisabeth J. Cohen, MD, Professor of Ophthalmology and chair of the Department of Ophthalmology at NYU Grossman School of Medicine—involves removal of the diseased endothelium and mound-shaped aggregates, known as guttae, without the need for a donor graft.

NYU Langone Convenes World’s Experts on Bionic Reconstruction

NYU Langone Convenes World’s Experts on Bionic Reconstruction

From early on in his career, Jacques Hacquebord, MD, performed major reconstructive work on patients at NYC Health +
Hospitals/Bellevue, including many with hand and arm amputations. Caring for these patients introduced him to the fascinating
world of prosthetic devices. Working with occupational therapists, mental health experts, and those who make and fit artificial
limbs, known as prosthetists, he saw a field brimming with potential.