Channahon man uses social media to support other amputees

Tom Carlson’s right leg was amputated below his knee six years ago after an infection spread through his foot to his calf, according to a news release from Edward-Elmhurst Health.

Seeking support, Carlson found a website for the Amputee Coalition, which had a peer visitor program. However, Carlson was living in Tennessee at the time and no peer visitors were in his area.

“I fell into a depression. Not having that support, not having those resources,” Carlson, now 52 and living in Channahon, said in the release. “I didn’t want to go on about it or feel sorry for myself, I just wanted to move on with my life.”

Carlson attended the 2019 National Amputee Coalition Conference in San Antonio, Texas. He met Kim, the woman who is now his wife, at the peer training class, according to the release. Kim had her left leg amputated above the knee in 2015. The couple moved to Illinois in May 2020, according to the release.

Carlson began a support group for amputees on Facebook and pushed “for more involvement from the Amputee Coalition at Edward-Elmhurst Health hospitals.” He began working at Edward-Elmhurst Health in 2020 and currently works at its outpatient testing center in Plainfield, registering patients for procedures, according to the release.

Patients typically don’t realize Carlson is an amputee until they see his prosthetic leg with its University of Michigan logo, Carlson said in the release, adding later that he doesn’t “like to be treated any differently from anybody else,” but he’s willing to share his story.

“A lot of people don’t talk to others about their amputation,” Carlson said in the release. “I don’t have a problem showing my prosthetic leg, but there are people who are self-conscious.”

That’s what makes Carlson’s Facebook group so valuable. People can visit the for information and support “without having to publicly declare they are an amputee,” according to the release.

Carlson said he was nervous in those early days wondering how he would adjust.

“I wasn’t finding any information about support groups, so I went to social media,” Carlson said in the release.

That’s why Carlson wants people to know they can still feel “normal” after an amputation.

“You can get pretty close to your life before the amputation. Maybe not 100%, but you can get pretty close,” Carlson said in the release “As an amputee, you have good days and you have bad days. People struggle with it. But there is support out there for people who are amputees.”

For information, visit EEHealth.org/blog/categories/hd-voices-of-diversity.