Standing Tall

Michelle Prichard is very blessed. She’s a talented singer/songwriter. She has a wonderful husband, family, and career as a controller for Integration Services Corporation. And to look at her, you’d never know there was anything different about her. Until you watch her walk across the room.

Growing up in Southern California, Prichard was an active child. She played softball. She swam. She skied. She modeled. And she did all this with one leg. Though born with two legs, she was also born with Proximal Femoral Focal Deficiency in her right one, which meant her femur didn’t fully develop. So, at 18 months of age, doctors amputated her leg and fit her with a prosthesis.

As a child amputee, Prichard’s parents were always supportive, but they never handled her with kid gloves. “We’d be walking in the mall, and I’d fall over,” Prichard recalls. “People would stare, and my mom would tell me to get up. The doctors told my parents to not feel sorry for me  ... that if they pitied me, I would have self-esteem issues. So I’m grateful they raised me the way they did.”

In addition to the sports-centric activities, Prichard also enjoyed performing from a young age. She began singing in front of crowds of more than 5,000 people at county fairs, talent shows, and school music programs. In 2002, she moved to Nashville to pursue her love of performance and complete her music business degree at Middle Tennessee State University. When she graduated in 2005, she intended to pursue a career as a singer/songwriter and establish herself as a true Nashvillian. When her then-boyfriend, Jared, joined her in Nashville and they married, all of the moving parts were in place.

Then, in 2008, when it was time for Prichard to get fitted for a new prosthesis (children require new prosthetics annually, and adults every three to four years), her life took an unexpected turn. Her new prosthetic leg, a hefty expense that was always covered under her California insurance plan, was not covered under her new Tennessee insurance. “I called my insurance company, and they said my leg wasn’t a necessity,” she explains. “I didn’t know that every state was different, that one state considers it durable medical equipment and another state doesn’t.” Prichard always considered walking more of a necessity than a luxury, but when she found out that the insurance company felt otherwise, she knew it was time for a call to action ... a need for change. And so was born Mending Limbs, a nonprofit Prichard and her husband founded to raise awareness of both the Amputee Coalition of America and to advocate for adequate prosthetic insurance coverage in Tennessee and nationwide.

In the fall of 2008, Prichard’s friends and family held a benefit concert and subsequently raisied the nearly $20,000 needed to purchase her uninsured prosthetic leg. Thankfully, the company she worked for changed insurance, and the new insurance company covered a majority of the cost of her new leg. So Prichard then re-appropriated the $20,000 to help other amputees in need. And with that, Mending Limbs took on a life of its own.

In the first year of operation, the nonprofit had two benefits, both with huge turnouts. This year, the goal is to raise $50,000. And one day, Michelle hopes to be able to sponsor a child by paying either a percentage of a new prosthesis or the whole amount for the fitting and maintenance of the prosthesis until the child is 18 or no longer needs the sponsorship. But for now, it’s baby steps: annual increases in funds raised, and trying to get the Prosthetic Parity Act passed in Tennessee (it’s already passed in 17 states), which would require insurance companies to cover a portion of the cost of prosthetics.

While Michelle hasn’t given up on a singing and songwriting career, she feels that this cause — raising awareness for amputees and limb-deficient citizens — as well as Mending Limbs are her priorities. “Personally, I gain so much from helping other amputees,” she says.

Above all though, she wants people to realize that a handicap should not be a setback in someone’s life, but rather a motivation. “No matter what it takes,” says Prichard, “I’m going to make changes happen rather than wait for them to!” It’s that same flame she hopes to ignite in others.

Get Involved
See what events Mending Limbs has coming up and find out how you can get involved at mendinglimbs.org or 390-3450.