James E. Hanger, inventor Hanger Limb
“What could the world hold for a maimed, crippled man!” – James E. Hanger
On June 3, 1861, 18-year-old James E. Hanger, woke to the sound of cannon fire.
Hanger had enlisted with the Confederate Churchville Cavalry the day before.
As he ran for his horse, the third shot hit the ground, “richochetted [sic], entering the stable and struck me”, shattering his leg.
As a result of the Battle of Philippi, W.Va., Hanger would become the first amputee in the Civil War.
Hanger was issued a peg leg and spent two months as a prisoner before being exchanged.
“No one can know what such a loss means unless he has suffered a similar catastrophe. In the twinkling of an eye, life’s fondest hopes seemed dead. I was the prey of despair.” recalled Hanger.
Back home, Hanger closeted himself in his room for three months before emerging walking down the stairs on the first articulated, double-joint prosthetic leg, bending at both the ankle and the knee.
The former college engineering student began making artificial limbs for other wounded veterans.
In 1863, Hanger was commissioned to develop prosthetic limbs for Confederate soldiers. The “Hanger Limb” became the first artificial limb massed produced. Hanger’s company today is one of the largest prosthetic providers in the world.
“Today I am thankful for what seemed then to me nothing but a blunder of fate, but which was to prove instead a great opportunity.”