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Support for limb loss patients

April is Limb Loss Awareness Month. It is celebrated across the UK and around the world as a time to recognise those living with limb loss and to raise awareness about limb loss prevention.

Last week, we shared the stories of two of our limb loss patients, Peter Lloyd and Adam Islam (click their names to read those articles).

Here, we would like to focus on an element of support offered here at The Royal Orthopaedic Hospital (ROH). Hokey Cokey is a group created at ROH to share information and promote social opportunities to teenagers and young adults (TYA) with limb differences.

Cathy Cook, who is a Teenage Cancer Trust Youth Support Coordinator, helps support 13-24 year olds diagnosed with bone cancer who have undergone surgery resulting in amputation, or the fitting of an endoprosthetic replacement. As part of her role, Cathy provides emotional support, distraction and a non-clinical presence for patients attending the hospital for surgery to remove a tumour.

She says: “Over the past five years, I have supported young people and seen them facing the same physical and emotional challenges following life-changing surgery following a sarcoma diagnosis.

“And whilst there is much information available, there is a lack of age-appropriate resources for teenagers and young adults, which is why I created Hokey Cokey. I am now looking to further develop this to acknowledge the importance of peer support.”

The group welcomes parents, family members, friends and people of all ages to follow their social media pages for information.

In addition to Hokey Cokey, some other resources for limb loss patients include The Amputation Foundation and Limbpower.

You can follow Hokey Cokey on Twitter and Facebook. If you are interested in finding out more or supporting future projects regarding TYA peer support, please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.