History of Prosthetics
in my Family

My name is Mac Hanger and I have been practicing prosthetics for over 40 years. It is my passion.

My family has been in Prosthetics since 1861, when my great grandfather lost his leg above the knee. He was the first amputee of the Civil War.

He got a prosthesis from the government, but it was just a peg leg; painful, stiff, and horrible to wear. He secluded himself in a makeshift workshop in a barn and built an above knee prosthesis for himself. He designed and built a prosthesis for himself that had a working hip joint, knee joint, ankle joint, even toe joints.

Soon he was making prostheses for other injured soldiers. President Lincoln wrote him and asked him to come to Washington DC to help Amputees from both sides of the war. He helped to build what is now the Veterans Administration, and is considered the founder of modern American prosthetics. He changed prosthetics and he changed lives.

I am proud and humbled to come from a long tradition of helping Amputees walk again and get back to their lives.

Innovation has always been at the center of what my family has done. I am constantly looking for new ways to make prosthetics LIGHTER, COOLER, MORE FLEXIBLE, and LESS PAINFUL.