About the Prosthesist
James W. DeWees is a native of the Bloomington area. He was born and raised in Nashville, Indiana about 15 miles from Bloomington. His family still lives in the area. Jim attended Indiana University his freshman year, then transferred to DePauw University for his Sophomore year. Jim then transferred to Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah to be close to the mountains and the recreation. He graduated with a degree in Chemistry in April 1990. He worked in Salt Lake City, UT from 1990 until the fall of 2000 doing work in chemistry and medical testing.
In January 1998, Jim was on a backcountry ski trip in Utah, a sport that he really enjoyed. On this trip, he fell into a stream of water and ended up with frostbite on his left foot. After some time in the hospital and a few surgeries, the foot did not heal and was amputated below the knee. Three weeks after the amputation, Jim returned to work at his job in medical testing. In May 1998 he began working as a volunteer at the Shriners’ Hospital in Salt Lake City in the prosthetics department. In January 1999 he was hired full time as a technician.
Jim attended the certificate program for Prosthetics at California State University, Dominguez Hills in the fall of 1999 and graduated in May 2000. Since graduating, Jim has worked in Las Vegas, Detroit, and Indianapolis doing prosthetics.
Jim is certified with the American Board for Certification in Prosthetics and uses the most recent technology in all of his work. He fabricates his own prostheses and is always eager to try out new and different products to see how they function and for durability. He is highly committed to customer satisfaction and top quality workmanship.
Jim is still very active and participates in many sports and activities. His favorite sport is still skiing, and with his special prosthesis he is able to ski just as well as before his accident. During the rest of the year, Jim is an avid mountain biker, a sport that he has been participating in since 1984. He has not slowed down at all since his accident, and has no plans on slowing down in the near future.
