October 4 – 11 is National Amputee Awareness Week, providing an opportunity for the Australian community to recognise, support and celebrate those affected by limb loss.

Recognition is essential in understanding the challenges and complications of daily life through the experience of limb loss.

Amputation is typically performed as a last option to save a life from trauma, a cancer, a disease, or an infection. Amputation is one of the few medical outcomes in which the solution creates a permanent disability.

There will be thousands of individuals receiving amputations in Australia this year, with a high percentage of those facing the process due to the complications of diabetes and vascular disease.

For an individual, the effect on well-being can be physical, social, emotional, environmental, and financial.

Limb loss changes your mobility, it may change how you see yourself, and it can change the way people see you. For some, limb loss makes many aspects of day-to-day life more challenging and often more frustrating.

NATIONAL AMPUTEE AWARENESS WEEK is the opportunity for recognition, to discover possibilities and hope.

Amputees NSW is your community with lived experience, and we invite everyone to show their support of this important week for our NSW amputee community