91-year-old retired veterinarian makes walkers for animals with disabilities

Lincoln Parkes is a veterinarian and orthopedic surgeon who, due to his profession, saw firsthand the sad fate given to animals that cannot have their physical deficiencies resolved through surgery. Therefore, he decided to dedicate the rest of his days to changing the fate of these animals, giving them a second chance to have a better quality of life.

O awesome.club I would like to tell you the story of this 91-year-old man, who put his own life at the service of animals, in a real fight for them to have the most dignified existence possible.

In a small town in eastern Virginia, USA, you can find an adapted workshop where Dr. Lincoln Parkes, a 91-year-old man, dedicates his retirement days to change the lives of hundreds of animals, building them walkers and wheelchairs that improve the mobility of the pets. With that, Parkes won the admiration of many people. Ours included.

For the protagonist of this post, the fact of retiring did not mean to stop working, quite the contrary. He made the decision to redirect his vocation and passion for dogs to the mission of improving the quality of life for animals, especially dogs. “I like to give these creatures a better life. When they can’t move and they get a walker, they also get the possibility to use their front paws, and your spirit simply breaks free: they are like children when they gain their independence,” says Parkes.

Every dog ​​that has been given a custom wheelchair by Parkes has had similar reactions, and each one has warmed the experienced vet’s heart. He recalls and tells with nostalgia in his eyes and a smile on his lips the first walker he built, given to a dachshund dog: “This dog ran out the door of the clinic, it felt like it had springs in its body🇧🇷

Amy Deisher, a client of Dr. Parkes, who traveled for 3 hours to meet him, told about the experience of his two corgis, called Austin and Llyr. Both suffer from a disease called degenerative myelopathy, which progresses through the spinal cord and causes the animal’s hind legs to stop working. The problem gets worse the closer you get to the brain. The woman told how Parkes changed their lives: “The moment Llyr got on the walker, he ran away. And he never stopped. Carts make a big difference in their lives🇧🇷 Every moment is worth it so we can see them doing what they used to do.”

Lincoln Parkes retired as an orthopedic veterinary surgeon 30 years ago. During the time he dedicated himself to his trade, he was able to examine almost 96,000 animals a year (since there was a very high demand), and perform approximately 3,000 surgeries. In his professional career, he saw several pets being sacrificed despite being in good health, just because they had a mobility problem that prevented them from walking. For this reason, euthanasia ended up being the chosen alternative. “But the animals they shouldn’t die because they can’t walkParkes thought. “I felt that something needed to be changed. And it all became clear: I should build and test something for them!”

The veterinarian gathered various objects and utensils, such as wooden boards, baby carriages, vehicle wheels, among other things, and rolled up his sleeves. Thus, not only did he deliver hundreds of thousands of dogs from a condemnation they didn’t deserve, but also gave them a new opportunity to live🇧🇷 “The artifact worked very well, both for patients and their human caregivers. The device may not have been the first to appear, but it seemed the most effective: there was nothing more useful or popular,” says Sheldon Steinberg, a neurosurgeon friend of Parkes. And that’s how the K9 Card, the small business founded by the veterinarian. Gradually, the company became increasingly well known.

Despite Dr. Parkes has been retired for 30 years, his company was born 3 decades earlier. And in the early years, the veterinarian divided his time between performing surgeries and developing carts and walkers for animals that seemed doomed to death. And that made Parkes become recognized by his professional colleagues, gaining the reputation of being a veterinarian with great empathy for all living beings: “The reason why Parkes is admired, at least among veterinarians, is the fact that he have understood that people are not ready to sleep without their pets, and their creations make that clear. Their wheelchairs make a huge difference for people and animals,” said Tory Hampshire, a friend of Parkes, who is also retired.

Parkes does not discriminate against any animal, and makes very small walkers for birds or chihuahuas, as well as developing very large models, for animals of the St. Bernard breed, for example. The fact is that for 60 years, the veterinarian has been perfecting his creations, despite the fact that his first cart was already very well received and his patent was registered at the beginning of the processes. However, the most important thing for Parkes has always been to build the perfect artifact, increasingly light, balanced and practical, regardless of size. It is a decision that can be summed up in one sentence, said by the exemplary veterinarian: “Saving lives feels good🇧🇷

Today, K9 Cart is not what it used to be. In the days of the “fat cows”, Dr. Parkes could pay a few workers to build the walkers while he devoted himself to designing and improving his products. Now Parkes starts and ends each order himself., taking several days to mechanize and adjust the parts, as he no longer has the funds to hire other people. In addition, sales have dropped to a few hundred carts a year, with most current customers being local rather than from other parts of the country. In the company’s best moments, he built a wheelchair a day.

In addition, he and his wife divorced a few years ago, and each decided to run their own wheelchair business separately, competing with 5 or 6 other companies that operate in the same field. However, Lincoln Parkes does not see this as a competition or a problem. On the contrary: for him, the fact that there are more companies specializing in this type of product has become a good intention that they have in common. “I’m not in this for the money,” he says. “It’s all for the animals, and for how happy they are when they walk again. And it’s also for the owners, who can enjoy their pets for a few more years.” Not to mention, at age 91, Parkes continues to improve his designs. He is currently working on a prototype that should be even better than anything that has ever been built.

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