Pittsfield Native Prosthetist Seeks Location in Hometown
A prosthetic arm hydrodipped with a flag image for a client who is a veteran.
David Hayes, of Hayes Prosthetic Inc., said he prioritizes listening to clients' experiences to provide a prosthetic that is comfortable and empowers them to have a better quality of life.
"My statement is wearing a prosthesis shouldn't be a painful experience, if it hurts you, something's wrong," he said.
"I tell people in the casting room before I cast them, I have a little talk with them, I say, listen, you need to remember something that you're going to go through a whole host of emotions as you go through the process of being able to use a prosthesis every day, and that is you're going to laugh, you're gonna cry, you're going to be angry, you're going to want to throw the prosthesis across the room. ...
"But what you need to understand is, that's normal to feel that way after what you've been through and you always have to remember when you feeling like that, that I'm here. It's my job to listen to you."
His location on Riverdale Road in Springfield has been successfully in operation for more than 50 years and he feels a need to also provide services to his hometown.
"We've got 100 years of combined experience with my brother and my father and there's a lot of stuff that I can still do that other guys don't," Hayes said. "It's like a lost art, there are people that just don't do the kind of work that I do anymore, and I specialize in prosthetics, that's all I do, where a lot of these other companies, they do orthotics as well."
Orthotics are generally support devices such as braces and footwear; prosthetics are artificial limbs.
He wants to service his hometown but said he first has to make sure there is a clientele.
His father, company founder Robert Hayes, started his career in prosthetics after leaving Marine Corps and incorporated the business in 1961 in Pittsfield. He took part in the development of the National Accreditation Examination and was a past president of the American Board for Certification and of the Academy of Orthotics and Prosthetics.
Hayes the son became a technician in 1985 and was mentored by his father and his brother, Brian. Hayes took over the operation a few years ago after his father's passing.
He prides himself in the highly detailed and personalized way that he tailors prosthetics to clients. These values were handed down to him by his father, he said.
"I take a special interest in it because I really do care about the people that I'm working on, I kind of treat them like family, like I was working on my brother and my sister," Hayes said. "When you're dealing with the loss of limb on somebody ... you want it to be the best it can be because you can compare it to what God gave them, but I want it to be the best. That comes from the heart."
His experience is comprised of education and a lifetime of observation. He is accredited with multiple nationwide certifications on top of his long apprenticeship.
Hayes makes it a priority to listen to the needs of his clients' so they can be best fit for a prosthetic.
"I had a woman come in here one time, she was bent over, she could barely walk, prosthesis didn't fit her for beans so I started to work with her and she said, 'Well, you don't know as much about the prosthetic, because you don't wear one,' and I said, "to the contrary because I don't wear one, I have to listen very, very close to what you're saying. So that I can get you where you need to be.' And I got her up walking straight and everything."
He is also sensitive to the customers that want a cover for their prosthetic so it passes as a standard limb, even if insurance doesn't pay for it. That gives people a better quality of life feeling, he said.
"A lot of times insurance companies, they don't pay for certain things, and I like to make sure that it's provided, now I can't provide, you know, a $4,000 foot for somebody, but something like a cover and that little personal touch that makes people happy and feel good about it is what I try to do," Hayes said.
Hayes also hydrodipped an American flag onto a veteran's prosthetic arm after making a new hand out of two old ones. He said there was no extra charge for that and was just a special thing that he did because he knew he would love it.
Adding an extra layer of thought into his products, Hayes is both the prosthetist and the fabricator of the devices. He said this is unique for the industry, as many prosthetic companies outsource fabrication.
He said he always pushing for perfection in his craft, knowing that a false limb will never be just like the real thing for clients but wanting to make it as close as he can.
Eventually, he would like to hire a young prosthetist to pass on his knowledge as he doesn't want it to go to waste.
