Dwight Putnam spends a lot of time looking at the ground. It’s a habit he picked up as an artist, always searching for shards of glass and metal for...
Scottish Rite for Children’s Dwight Putnam creates artificial arms and legs for children missing body parts, giving them independence and freedom
“I don’t do too much sculpting these days. Making arms and legs fills that artistic need,” Putnam said. “Watching these patients, it helps you keep your own life in check.” Elena Norman, 10, stands with her sport leg prosthetic outside of the Scottish Rite for Children orthopedic hospital after an appointment in November 2021. Her mom takes her picture after prosthetic adjustment appointments to track her growth.
“These kids are so resilient. It’s all them,” he said. “I consider myself their pit crew while they’re out there running the race of life.”Putnum, who grew up in Carrollton, thought he wanted to be a doctor when he was an undergraduate student at Austin College. After one organic chemistry lecture, however, he decided to switch paths.
When he presented the woman with her silicone nose prosthetic, Putnam watched as a weight lifted off her and her husband. “We recognized from the beginning that he had this extra skill of silicone prosthetics, and his ability to sculpt was just off the charts, as far as his artistic eye,” said Don Cummings, director of prosthetics at Scottish Rite.
“Our motto at the hospital is giving children back their childhood, and that’s part of what he does. He addresses a specific need that a child has so that they can perform whatever activity it is they’re interested in,” Cummings said.“It really is miraculous. You go from watching your child only crawl to, just within six days, being out on the playground and she was moving around,” Brittany Norman said. “Dwight gives her life.
Lucas Stockton, 14, at Scottish Rite in Dallas on Tuesday, September 6, 2022. Stockton has been visiting the clinic since 2008 under the care of prosthetist Dwight Putnam. Pediatric prosthetists have to be cognizant of how much more physical children tend to be than adults.