|
THE DIGISPLINT STORY
May, 2002
My name is Derek Bakelaar. I am
a gold/silver-smith, jewellery storeowner and operator
and have dedicated all my extra time and efforts into
building finger splints. Between my two businesses,
I have decided to follow my heart and dedicate myself
to one. In July of this year, I will no longer have
the jewellery store and will put all my working time
into DIGISPLINT.
My Dad put a torch in my hand when
I was ten years old in a jewellery repair shop and said
"give it a try". Since then, I could repair
jewellery as well as create what people want. My greatest
joy since Digisplint started in 1996, is that now I
can take the trade my father taught me, and create what
people need. Time and time again, I have been asked
how I got into finger splint therapy and when I am done
my story, I am asked to repeat it again. For those of
you interested…
It was the evening of October 30,
1995, and I was playing volleyball with our local recreation
league in the small gym of our high school when the
ball ended up in the bleachers again. The bleachers
are on top of a ten-foot wall that has no access to
the gym floor. When the ball goes up there, you either
leave the gym, go down the hall, up the stairs and find
the door to the bleacher area or you monkey up the wall,
grab the ball and toss it down. In the middle of a game,
the latter is quicker and not hard to do. So, for the
third time that game I volunteered to go up the wall
again to get the ball. I tossed it down, hung over the
side to drop down myself when my wedding ring got snagged
on a nail at the top or the wall. You hand therapists
have probably seen the results of this before but for
every one else…what was left of my finger is not
for the weak stomach. My finger was partially de-gloved,
the bone snapped between the DIP and the PIP and there
was obvious tendon damage. A good friend of mine drove
me to our emergency room and after the doctor looked
at the x-rays, said that this break was beyond what
could be repaired in our little hospital and to please
go home and in the morning drive to the city emergency
department for them to take care of it. They splinted
it with an aluminum brace, gave me some Tylenol 3 and
said "good luck". I realize that this sounds
silly, but in our part of the world, this is how things
are done.
To back track a bit, I told you
earlier that I have a jewellery store. I should explain
that the Christmas season was set to start in a few
days and in retail, this means that more than 60% of
our annual business is done within the next two months.
I am the only gold smith in the store and my workload
is about to quadruple and now I have one silly finger
broken and a whole sleepless night to think about my
dilemma.
On the way to the city the next
day, Sharon (one of God's greatest gifts to me and my
beautiful wife) drove and I told her flat out that I
need this finger cut off because I have to get to work.
If we don't make it through the Christmas season, we
may as well not be open for business in January. She
didn't say much because she new I was serious and was
not about to change my mind. We arrived at the emergency
department and immediately were seen by a doctor (they
knew we were coming). I explained to him my dilemma
as he studied my hand and when I told him to cut it
off…I'm sure he thought I was nuts. His response
was to first look at Sharon who shrugged and said, "He's
serious" and then look at me and say "that's
not an option".
The surgery took an hour or so,
I had a plastic arm and wrist splint up to my elbow
with my wrist and all my fingers fixed in a position
that made my whole hand immobile. I had to stay in the
hospital for two days attached to an I.V. pole and I
missed Halloween that night with my kids. I was not
happy.
A week or so later, I was extremely
frustrated with my splint because I could not even change
a watch battery. Seeing the work pile up on the gold
bench drove me to call the physiotherapy department
in the city and ask for an appointment to have a thermal
plastic splint made to free up my first three fingers
of my left hand so I could get back to work. The therapists
were very obliging and soon after, I was diving into
the piles of repairs at work. I was slow, but at least
I was doing something.
The surgeon that put my finger back
together did an excellent job and the therapist that
got it working again was gifted. On one of my many hand
therapy sessions, I told him I was a gold smith. He
looked up at me and asked if I could build him a special
finger splint for a client. After describing what he
was trying to accomplish with this splint, I said "sure".
The rest, my friends, is history.
I looked into building more of these splints, in different
variations to accomplish different goals with different
fingers and from that point on, one thing after another
fell into place. From a broken finger that I thought
should have been cut off, a whole new career started
in which I will no longer make and repair things people
want, but things people need…and I love it!
To the therapists in Canada and
around the world, I will not try to impress you with
my degrees, because I have none. I will not tell you
that hand therapy, occupational therapy or rhuematology
was my chosen career, because it was not. But, if you
can tell me about your clients finger or fingers, what
it is doing and what you want to accomplish with it,
then I can promise you that I will do everything I can
to help you accomplish that goal. I do not quit easily
and my record proves it.
To the people effected by hand disease
and deformities, I promise that I will work with your
therapist to make your life easier in some way, as best
I can. I will make and remake splints for you until
I get it right. You will be proud to wear your silver
or gold splints and no longer will you feel the need
to hide your hands.
I carry with me a "will"
passed on from my mom, that is, almost nothing is impossible
and if it is not impossible, then it can be done. I
carry with me a "desire" from my dad, that
is, I want to help, and if I can, I will.
 back
to top
|
