by Elijah Brummond
When I was seven years old, I traveled with a group of experienced advocates to Washington DC to help lobby for legislation aimed at prosthetic insurance reform. At that age, I had little comprehension of the significance of the work I was participating in or the effect it might have on my fellow amputees. All I knew was that I was telling my story to important people.
It would only be years later that I fully comprehended what that experience actually meant. The trip to DC was my formal introduction to the world of advocacy, but it didn’t feel overwhelming or hyperpolitical. As I have continued to advocate for the limb-loss community, I have often looked back on this trip. It served as the foundation for my view of advocacy as something anybody can do. It’s just regular people sharing their stories to improve awareness and create better futures for themselves and those like them.
That perception isn’t universal. For many, the idea of advocacy feels overwhelming and out of reach. It can seem like something that requires an endless amount of time or lots of specialized expertise. These assumptions are enough to stop many people from becoming involved in advocacy work, and I can understand where they’re coming from. When you are already navigating family, work, and life commitments, adding advocacy to the list can seem impossible.
But advocacy doesn’t have to resemble a full-time job or be a burden on your life. It can and should be engaging and exciting. It should be able to meet you no matter what season of life you are in. The goal is not to do everything—it’s to do something that is sustainable for you.
My involvement in limb-loss advocacy has changed as I have grown older, often in ways that I couldn’t have foreseen. One of the earliest organizations I became involved with was Wiggle Your Toes, a Minnesota-based nonprofit founded in 2007 by a bilateral amputee. Through my involvement with them, I began to realize that advocacy is broader than legislation and policy. It’s also about connecting on a human level. One of the great things about Wiggle is that they put an emphasis on connecting people through events, education, mentoring, and other types of support. I got involved with them through their adaptive sports clinics, which they hold annually for activities such as wakeboarding and snowboarding.
These clinics were very important to me as a young boy. They offered a rare opportunity to be active, immerse myself in a great community, and learn from adult role models. I didn’t consider it to be advocacy. There were no politicians or speeches. It was just a group of individuals who were coming together to “heal, recover, and flourish,” in Wiggle’s own words. As the years rolled by, I came to see that these clinics were absolutely a form of advocacy. Every time I participated, I would meet new people, hear different stories, and make new connections. When I was challenged by a particular aspect of living with limb loss, those people were always there to offer encouragement or practical advice. I understand now that they were advocating for me and teaching me to advocate for myself.
Those experiences laid the foundation for my involvement with Gillette Children’s Hospital, where I served as the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals Champion. This role introduced me to a new, more formal type of advocacy. As the Champion, my role was to represent patient perspectives in the community outreach setting. I would speak with donors and supporters, sharing my experience of life navigating healthcare as a child with limb loss.
I wasn’t trying to pitch legislation, campaign for policy changes, or win an argument. I was simply sharing my own story and experience. It was an opportunity to communicate honestly about what patient care looks like from the inside and why continued support for hospital programs and services matters profoundly.
As I’ve become more deeply involved in the world of advocacy, I have come to understand that advocacy is not a single path or role. It encompasses a wide range of different forms depending on the goal, the setting, and the individual involved. What truly defines advocacy is the use of lived experience to effect positive change, whether societal, institutional, or personal.
There are many ways to make that type of contribution. For me, advocacy always started in my local communities. So start local! Reach out to a local nonprofit, attend an event, or find a specific piece of legislation surrounding orthotics and prosthetics to follow. Try to find something you are passionate about and good at. Take things one step at a time; ease into different organizations and events and find the one that works best for you. Above all, have fun! When you first start advocating, it shouldn’t feel like a burden or a second job.
My involvement in organizations like Wiggle and Gillette has proven invaluable now that I’ve embarked on my undergraduate studies in pre-law. Those experiences taught me to communicate clearly and represent limb-loss perspectives in a meaningful way. It has also introduced me to a community that has continued to support me. Wiggle’s generous support with a college scholarship has helped me to pursue my academic and future professional goals.
I am not sure exactly what the future holds in store, but I know that advocacy will play a big role in it. I can say this with such certainty because advocacy has become more than me telling my story. To me, it has become all the incredible things that I have seen accomplished through organizations like Wiggle and Gillette. All the lives that have been changed and the support that has enabled me and so many others to live a full life. To me, that is a cause worth advocating for. And it can fit into anyone’s life.
I’ll leave you with a quote from Teddy Roosevelt that has become my motto for advocacy work: “Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.”
Elijah Brummond is an undergraduate pre-law student at Drake University.
