Jan 28|Crutches 4 Africa – David Talbot

Join us for a discussion about Crutches 4 Africa with David Talbot! Register here to receive Zoom information for this event.

“While in Uganda in 2005 I saw people who had survived the disease of polio. Often they are rejected in their communities. I’m a polio survivor myself. Back in the United States, I realized that many people have a lightly-used and no-longer-needed mobility device from a twisted ankle, ski accident, or operation. I saw crutches at garage sales, in dumpsters, and unfortunately in roll-off containers headed to landfills. I knew that I had to do something; this was the genesis of Crutches 4 Africa.” – Dave Talbot

About Crutches 4 Africa:

Our Mission: collecting, shipping, and distributing mobility devices.

We collect used and surplus mobility devices, ship them to developing countries, and distribute them–free–to people with physical mobility challenges regardless of their race, gender, tribe, age, or religion.

David’s Bio:

David Talbot is a child of the baby boom after WWII. Born in 1952, David started well but in the spring of 1955, when he was 2.5 years old, he contracted polio, just 2 weeks after the announcement that a vaccination had had been discovered.

David went through several years of rehab and started on his journey to overcome the physical restrictions that were the result with his bout with polio.

As the challenge was physical, that is where David put his focus. High School football, mountain climbing, and bicycling in Europe (even running with the bulls in Pamplona) were his signs that despite the disfiguration, he had whipped polio.

In 2005 David was in Uganda, East Africa with his wife Candice where they witnessed an incredible need for mobility devices. The impact of seeing the need first hand was the seed that grew into Crutches 4 Africa.  Since the inception, 144,000 mobility devices have been given away free to people in need in 20 African nations and 10 countries in other parts of the world.

David is a Paul Harris fellow and is a member of Mountain Foothills Rotary club in Evergreen Colorado, and was the 2011 recipient of the International Service Award for a Polio Free World.