Kids fitted with free running blade prosthetics by Shriners in Portland

PORTLAND Ore. (KPTV) - An East Coast organization believes running is a right and they’re making sure kids with prosthetics have the best tools to make that happen, all the way here in Oregon.

Including Isaac Tinkle, a 13-year-old track and field star, basketball player and golfer.

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“I do pretty much everything,” he said.

He’s also been a patient at Shriners Children’s Pediatrics Orthotics and Prosthetics Services since he was a baby.

“My leg was amputated when I was 9 months old, so pretty much my whole life,” he said.

A new gift from Running Is a Right, a Dave McGillivray Finish Strong Foundation program, is hoping to help make his life as an athlete that much easier.

“It means a lot to me because like I feel like I’ve always had a disadvantage when playing sports and this should help,” Tinkle said. “This returns the force you give it. The other one just hits the ground and it’s more for walking than running.”

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Isaac was one of several Shriners patients to get a running blade and training to use it this weekend, something that can normally be pretty costly.

“One of the things that a lot of people know is that the equipment that amputees need to be physically active is not considered medically necessary, so it’s not covered by medical insurance,” Brooke Raasch, the Managing Director of Running Is a Right, said.

Thanks to anonymous donors, Running Is a Right can provide these tools for free.

Something Isaac’s dad, Aaron, is grateful for.

“His legs can cost $20,000 and he grows so he has to get a new one every year. We’re just really lucky there are places like Shriners,” Aaron Tinkle said.

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