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The Economics of Everyday Things

40. Prosthetic Limbs

The Economics of Everyday Things

Freakonomics Network

Business

4.81.2K Ratings

🗓️ 18 March 2024

⏱️ 17 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

More and more Americans rely on prostheses. They’re custom-fitted, highly personal, and extremely expensive. Zachary Crockett investigates.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Jordan Beckwith is in her early 30s. She lives on her own just outside of Denver, Colorado.

0:08.8

She's got an apartment, a car, two big dogs named Sophie and Leo, and a YouTube channel with a million subscribers.

0:18.0

My name is Jordan Beckwith, but online my handles Footless Joe. Footless Joe's origin story goes like this.

0:27.0

When I was 13, I took a very bad fall off of a horse, shattered my ankle. My tibia broke off and then was shoved up into my legs. It was a really bad break, caused a lot of complications in healing. It was about 14 years of surgeries and trying to walk trying to be active and be a kid.

0:46.0

By the time I was 27 and still dealing with all of that,

0:50.0

I knew that I was at the point to make the right decision.

0:52.0

And five years ago in 2018 I had my below-the-ne amputation.

0:58.0

From the time that I sent the email in being like yes let's go ahead and do this I think it was three weeks from

1:03.9

then and it's funny I mean the process is like minor knee surgery or wrist

1:08.6

surgery it's all the same when they're also removing a limb they come in

1:12.0

smiling they're like this is the. They come in, smiling, they're like,

1:12.8

this is the one we're taking off today, right?

1:14.4

As soon as pain was under control, they keep you there for like three days,

1:22.4

and then they send you home.

1:24.1

What came next was an intense, expensive, and important relationship with her new leg.

1:30.5

In general, they try to get you up and beginning to use a prosthetic within like six to eight weeks,

1:40.0

which sounds very soon, right?

1:42.0

Like you just cut off my leg and I'm supposed to start

1:44.5

walking on that. For the Freakonomics Radio Network, this is the economics of

1:50.1

everyday things. I'm Zachary Crorakit. Today, prosthetic limbs.

1:56.2

In the US, about 2,000 babies a year are born

1:59.6

missing some portion of a limb. Far more people lose arms or legs later in life as a result

...

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