The National Amputation Foundation was founded in 1919 by a group of amputee veterans who suffered the loss of limb or limbs in the service of our country in World War I. From its inception, the Foundation was aware of the needs unique to amputees and therefore, dedicated all its efforts to helping all veteran amputees. Since then, the Foundation has expanded its facilities to include civilian amputees as well.
The Foundation sponsors an Amp-to Amp program. Whenever feasible, an amputee member of our organization who has returned to a normal life, visits the new amputee. This has proven to be a real morale builder. We have a list of support groups for every state and we offer booklets and pamphlets of special interest to the amputee. We also accept donated medical equipment, which is then given out to anyone in need.
The National Amputation Foundation (NAF) has for over 50 years been offering valuable assistance to veterans of World War I, II, Korea, the Vietnam Conflict, Desert Storm and Iraqi Freedom. The new civilian amputee has become a major concern to the Foundation. Unlike the new veteran amputee who is generally a male and relatively young, the new civilian amputee is older and includes many female amputees. The amputee population has been increasing due to accidents, (this category includes both young and old and male and female) diabetes, cancer and vascular conditions. We have found that in many cases the civilian amputee suffers a greater psychological trauma than the young soldier.
