Kevin Carroll

Kevin Carroll is an Irish prosthetist, researcher, educator, and author. He is the Vice-President of Prosthetics for Hanger Clinic, a prosthetics and orthotics provider in the United States.

Kevin travels around the United States and the world providing care for patients with unique or challenging cases and for disabled athletes. He also presents scientific symposiums and educational programs.

Carroll is one of the most renowned prosthetists in the world. He is an American Board Certified Prosthetist and has been named a Fellow of the American Academy of Orthotists and Prosthetists. He is a member of the International Society for Prosthetics and Orthotics (ISPO), the British Association of Prosthetics and Orthotics (BAPO) and the National Association of Professional Geriatric Care Managers. In 2009 Carroll was awarded the Distinguished Service Award by the United States Sports Academy because of his contributions to the advancement of prosthetics and his dedication to numerous disabled and paralympic athletes.

In 2005, a baby dolphin (now named Winter) became entangled in the ropes of a crab trap. The rope cut off the supply of blood to her tail which resulted in her tail being amputated.

It was thought that Winter would learn to swim without a tail, but this forced her to swim with a "side to side" motion instead of the normal "up and down" motion. Winter's veterinarians feared that this unusual movement would damage her spine. Kevin Carroll, who had previously designed prosthetics for other animals (including dogs, an ostrich and a duck), volunteered to help after hearing about Winter on NPR and became Winter's prosthetist in 2005.

Kevin and a team of experts, including Hanger clinician Dan Strzempka, began working on creating a prosthetic tail for Winter. While Carroll thought that it would be a simple task, the project took over a year and a half before Winter began wearing the tail. The successful creation of an artificial tail fluke is the first time a full prosthetic tail has been created for a dolphin.

Carroll and Strzempka worked with a chemical engineer to develop WintersGel, a new material that would disperse pressure evenly onto the dolphin's skin. Now the material is used for human amputees including Brian Kolfage and Megan McKeon.

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Wikipedia