Unstoppable: True Stories of Amazing Bionic Animals

By Nancy Furstinger

Chris P. Bacon was born with malformed legs, but with the help of a wheelchair made of construction toys, he’s become a hero to people with similar challenges.

Nancy Furstinger profiles Chris P. Bacon and many other animals in Unstoppable—all of whom are making their way around with the help of prosthetics, braces, orthotics and wheelchairs! Readers will meet the caretakers, prosthetists, vets, and loving families that help to make recovery possible. Furstinger offers a glimpse into the cutting-edge technologies, such as 3D printing and brain-controlled prosthetics, that are helping to improve the lives of animals and humans alike.   

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: Oct 10, 2017
• ISBN: 9781328828989

Nancy Furstinger

Nancy Furstinger has been speaking up for animals since she learned to talk, and she hasn't shut up yet. She is the author of nearly 100 books, including many on her favorite topic: animals! She started her writing career in third grade, when her class performed a play she wrote while recovering from chicken pox. Since then, Nancy has been a feature writer for a daily newspaper, a managing editor of trade and consumer magazines, and an editor at two children’s book publishing houses. She shares her home with big dogs, house rabbits, and a chinchilla (all rescued), and volunteers with several animal organizations. Visit her website at www.nancyfurstinger.com

Book preview

title page

Contents

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Title Page

Contents

Copyright

Dedication

Introduction

THE COMEBACK ANIMALS

Albie, Felix, and Fawn: Finding Strength in Their Differences at a Farm Sanctuary

Allison: Paddling in New Directions with Her Ninja Suit

Brutus: High-Stepping on Four Faux Paws

Chhouk: Putting His Best Foot Forward

Chris P. Bacon: Hamming It Up As an Internet Star

Estella: A Rolling Rodent Rocks a Mini-Wheelchair

Hudson: Paying It Forward As a Top Therapy Dog

Molly: Leaving Smiles Wherever She Goes

Mr. Stubbs: Swimming Like an Olympic Champ

Tripod: Walking with a New Spring in His Step

Vincent: Moving Forward on Titanium Legs

THE WIZARDS OF PROSTHETICS

Jeff Collins

Ronnie N. Graves

Martin Kaufmann

A Note From the Author

Glossary

Bibliography

Learn More About the Animals

Photo Credits

Acknowledgments

Index

About the Author

Connect with HMH on Social Media

Copyright © 2017 by Nancy Furstinger

All rights reserved. For information about permission to reproduce selections from this book, write to [e-mail] or to Permissions, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, 3 Park Avenue, 19th Floor, New York, New York 10016.

www.hmhco.com

Cover image © OrthoPets

Cover design by Andrea Miller

The Library of Congress has cataloged the print edition as follows:

Names: Furstinger, Nancy, author.

Title: Unstoppable : true stories of amazing bionic animals / Nancy Furstinger.

Description: Boston ; New York : Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, [2017]

Identifiers: LCCN 2016038370 | ISBN 9780544879669 (hardcover)

Subjects: LCSH: Veterinary surgery—Juvenile literature. | Domestic animals—Surgery—Juvenile literature. | Artificial Limbs—Juvenile literature. | Prosthesis-Juvenile literature. | Bionics—Juvenile literature.

Classification: LCC SF911.F96 2017 | DDC 636.089/7—dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016038370

eISBN 978-1-328-82898-9

v1.0917

· · · ·

For my compassionate cousins:

Kathy Morgan and Dawn Brownlee-Tomasso—obviously we are related!

And for all the inspiring animals and their loving caregivers and prosthetists

—N.F.

· · · ·

Introduction

Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference.

—Winston Churchill

All the animals in this book inspire us with their gumption. They have strong will and determination, proving that it’s possible to conquer life’s obstacles. The wild and domestic species profiled from around the world don’t let their limitations get in the way of living. These uplifting stories show that physically challenged animals can adapt to almost any circumstance. They celebrate what it means to be considered different, and they demonstrate that there’s no such thing as normal. Behind each animal is a team of dedicated rescuers, compassionate veterinarians, and orthotic and prosthetic professionals armed with cutting-edge technological advances.

They’ve created custom-designed wheelchairs and prosthetic limbs, tails, fins, flippers, and beaks to replace missing or nonworking body parts. In the process, they’ve given these specially abled animals a second chance by improving their mobility and their quality of life.

Many of these medical miracles have crossed over from human medicine, revolutionizing veterinary medicine. Conversely, some animal medical advances are benefiting humans. Sharing progressive technologies can be mutually beneficial to all species!

Today, pioneering innovations are helping our two- and fourlegged animal and human friends. Sounding as if it is straight out of science fiction, 3D printing allows researchers to precisely design and produce bionic body parts. Another fusion of technologies offering options for human and animal amputees is the science of osseointegration. This alternative way of attaching a prosthetic limb uses a titanium implant, inserted into the residual limb, which gradually becomes part of the bone.

Amazing inventions, such as robotic prosthetic limbs controlled by thought, are evolving at a rapid pace. More incredible discoveries are on the way, making anything possible for bionic 4 animals of the future!

THE COMEBACK ANIMALS

Albie, Felix, and Fawn

Finding Strength in Their Differences at a Farm Sanctuary

Follow Rescue Road as it winds through Woodstock Farm Sanctuary in High Falls, New York, and you might spot a cow sporting a pink leg brace, a goat cruising around in a wheelchair, and a sheep cavorting with his flock on a prosthetic leg. Nothing, not even a missing limb, stops the animals who live on this storybook farm from savoring life without limitations. Here, the tales have happy endings; in fact, the close to 350 animals who live at the 150-acre sanctuary have all triumphed over sad beginnings.

Albie, a shaggy white goat named after the compassionate philosopher and humanitarian Albert Schweitzer, was just a kid when he escaped from a slaughterhouse in New York City. Gashes etched Albie’s legs. Someone had hogtied the tiny goat, binding together all four of his legs so that he could be transported to slaughter.

JENNY BROWN, COFOUNDER OF THE WOODSTOCK FARM SANCTUARY, SCRATCHES DEVLIN, A RAM WHO SURVIVED A HUGE HOARDING CASE IN PENNSYLVANIA.

Then Albie got his second chance. Police grabbed the roaming goat and took him to a city animal shelter. The staff knew just whom to contact: Jenny Brown. If animals are the stars at Woodstock Farm Sanctuary, Jenny is their leading lady. The sanctuary cofounder started