Honoring tradition - Glacier Prosthetic Care owner aims to carry on service philosophy of his mentor and friend

To Ian Reynolds and Niles Velin, a prosthetic device doesn’t have to be just a utilitarian replacement for a lost limb — it can be a work of art.

“We can make it so you can show it off instead of having people shy away from looking at it,” said Reynolds, the new owner of Glacier Prosthetic Care in Kalispell. “We want to make it a positive relationship, give kids and adults the idea that it’s OK to become an amputee.”

Reynolds is a role model for that philosophy.

After deciding to have his right leg amputated below the knee following a fireworks accident, Reynolds has pursued a fully active lifestyle.

Much of the reason for Reynolds’ independence is that prosthetist Kendall Carpenter was able to forge the kind of prosthetic limb for him that has allowed Reynolds to pursue his outdoor passions without reservation. Before meeting Carpenter, Reynolds had suffered with hot spots and ulcers from a poor socket fit. Carpenter was able to mold a perfect socket match.

“I asked him, ‘Will it ever be comfortable to be an amputee?’ and he was able to feel so much through his hands that he could create something that was comfortable,” Reynolds said. “A lot of patients have never had a successful socket fit.”

Carpenter’s treatment also inspired Reynolds’ professional goals, since he wanted to give other amputees the life-changing service he received from Carpenter.

Reynolds went to Spokane Falls Community College to graduate with honors in the prosthetics program, and later passed board exams to become a certified prosthetist. While taking classes, he spent many weekends working side by side with Carpenter.  

Carpenter died unexpectedly on Nov. 6, 2012, at age 57. It was a terrible blow for family, friends and the Glacier Prosthetic office; Reynolds was among those named in Carpenter’s obituary as being a member of Carpenter’s “beloved staff, who became a family.”

Reynolds eventually decided to take over the reins of Glacier Prosthetic Care, making him an entrepreneur at age 26. Along with prosthetic devices, Glacier Prosthetic Care also provides orthotics and braces.

Ownership of the business was officially relinquished by Carpenter’s widow, Gina, on June 30, and Reynolds started as owner on Sept. 1. Gina Carpenter is still a valuable part of the office, though, and from the administrative side is as passionate about providing prosthetic services as Reynolds and Velin.

“Kendall taught us that this is an artisan trade,” Velin said. “Not a lot of people do hand-fitted prostethics anymore. We wanted to carry on that craftsmanship.”

Velin, 32, started with Glacier Prosthetic Care in 2011. He met Reynolds at Spokane Falls Community College and Reynolds helped bring him on board to work with Carpenter. Velin had been in the Air Force for seven years and was inspired to enter the prosthesis trade after seeing friends lose limbs in military service.

Though Velin is a certified technician and orthotics fitter for Glacier Prosthetic, he’s not a full-time employee. He’s currently going to school to pursue a degree in mechanical engineering, with two years at Flathead Valley Community College and two years at Montana State University in Bozeman.

He then plans to use his engineering skills on the Glacier Prosthetic team to help advance prosthesis design.

Velin and Reynolds share the belief that the more involved an amputee is in developing his or her own prosthetic limb, the better the outcome. Carpenter used to invite Reynolds back into the work area to observe the creative and technical process of creating Reynolds’ prosthetic leg.  

“For an amputee to see the process, it gives them an understanding of what goes into it,” Reynolds said. “If they have an interest in their leg, they’ll have more success.”

Reynolds said that the success of a prosthesis requires an investment from the amputee as well as the clinician.

“Patient compliance can be the No. 1 issue with a prosthetic or orthotic device,” he said. “I think it’s important to make a leg unique or individual for

the patient to want to wear it. We want people to have fun with it.”

Gina Carpenter said she believes that because of technological advances, deciding to have an amputation rather than living with an insensate limb is not as difficult as it might have been in the past.

“Amputation is traumatic, but it’s not as tragic as it was even five years ago,” she said. “More people accept it, the more you can expose them to unique limbs.”

And with increasing cultural exposure to world-class athletes who are amputees and because of organizations such as Wounded Warriors, “it’s not viewed as much as a handicap anymore,” she said.

Reynolds chose to have his amputation at age 20, after two years of living with no ankle control and an insensate foot. Up until his accident at age 18 — when shrapnel from a homemade fireworks accident severed a sciatic nerve — he had lived a very active outdoor life, mountain biking, snowboarding, rafting and more.

He wanted to be able to move freely again.

His first prosthesis allowed him better motion than before the amputation, but it still needed improvements.

“Socket fit is everything,” he said. “You can have the nicest components in a prosthetic, but if the socket doesn’t fit, none of that matters.”

Reynolds said it’s easier to alter a prosthetic device if its maker is invested in all parts of the procedure.

“To perfect something you have to have the ability to change it and mold it,” he said. “Kendall created many ways to fix issues and resolve hot spots. In many places, once they make a socket you have to live with it.”

Molding prosthetic limbs to the patient’s needs is done mostly by hand at Glacier Prosthetic.

“These guys are so hands-on,” Gina Carpenter said. “People think a computer is perfect, but it’s not. You can’t get the feel through a computer. Ian and Niles know the patient intimately.”

Reynolds believes his status as an amputee and his time working with Kendall Carpenter are invaluable in his work as a prosthetic clinician.

“I have the ability to feel what they feel and have an insight into how to do things correctly,” he said. “I really listen to what the patient wants.

“It’s amazing how mental this game is as an amputee. I hope people can say, ‘He’s doing great — look at his success as an amputee. He will make me just as successful.’”

Gina Carpenter believes that this is often the case at Glacier Prosthetic.

“One of Ian’s abilities is to instill hope,” she said. “He can solve issues because he’s been through it. And hope is huge.”

Business reporter Heidi Gaiser may be reached at 758-4439 or by email at hgaiser@dailyinterlake.com.