Profile: German prosthetic orthotist empowers amputees in China

BEIJING, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- Quietly nestled in the northern outskirts of Beijing, the idyllic yard seemed "enchanted." Some saw people there who steered their way through the entrance in wheelchairs but who later "magically" walked out of the exit.

The mysterious "magician" casting spells at this location is Georg Hoffmann-Kuhnt, a 57-year-old German prosthetic orthotist who has been living in China for over 17 years. Nothing delights him more than the smiles on the faces of his Chinese patients when they can stand up again thanks to the artificial limbs tailor-made by the German.

Three years ago, Hoffmann-Kuhnt started up Meide Yanyuan Studio for Rehabilitation in north Beijing's Changping District. As Hoffmann-Kuhnt beckoned his guests inside, the "bewitched" yard revealed itself -- it looks nothing like a typical medical venue, but instead is a real garden.

Not brimming with mythical green smoke nor glaring light, it turned out to be a mini botanic garden, with lotus floating on ponds, plants and trees all over the place, and even a tree house for kids with artificial limbs to play in.

There is even more, such as a swing chair, iridescent trampoline and spiral tunnel slide.

"My idea is to give our clients a comfortable feeling when they are here so they can enjoy it," Hoffmann-Kuhnt told Xinhua. As patients wander around in the yard, they can also practice using their new prostheses in daily activities and adapt more quickly to real-life scenarios.

"For them, an amputation is a dramatic situation for sure. So we need to give them the possibility to come back to normal life," he said, while sitting in this cozy yard and sharing his story as one of the very few foreign prosthetic orthotists practicing in China.

Growing up in a family of surgeons in Munich, Hoffmann-Kuhnt developed an interest in medicine at a young age, and shortly afterwards he realized that prosthetic orthotics could be a field that effectively combined both his medical interests and his handcraft skills.

After finishing his master's degree in orthotics and prosthetics in 1996, he worked as an orthopedic surgeon for a decade in a rehabilitation center in Germany. He had an opportunity to visit Beijing in 2005, and this visit sparked his connection with China.

"It was an eye-opener for me! I was absolutely impressed. It was not what I was told in the media in Germany. It was totally different," said Hoffmann-Kuhnt, who after his trip to China believed that there must be a lot of possibilities in the country, including in his own field of expertise.

His chance to move to China materialized a year later. One day in 2006, a random glance at a recruitment notice from Ottobock, an international supplier of prosthetic components, completely changed his life. He spontaneously applied, quickly got the offer, and relocated to Beijing in early 2007.

As technical director of the company's China branch, Hoffmann-Kuhnt tried year after year to raise the whole industry's standard, inspiring him to stay in China for 17 years, and allowing him to witness the great changes in the country.

Inside Hoffmann-Kuhnt's studio, there is a felt board pinned with colorful badges, stickers and pictures, displaying many of the memorable stories and significant events that have happened during his years in China. Among them, an identification card confirming Hoffmann-Kuhnt's service to the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games is the most noticeable. In 2008, he led his team at the Paralympic Games and served over 3,000 athletes and coaches with disabilities.

"It is incredible to see the energy and enthusiasm of the disabled people who participate in these games, and to see their spirit," Hoffmann-Kuhnt said. He took out a torch of the 2008 Beijing Olympics from his collection. It features a traditional Chinese design known as "Lucky Cloud."

Despite having room for further improvement, he noticed a huge jump in the support for disabled people across China in 2008 and afterwards, while later in both 2012 and 2016, his team also provided services to the London and Rio de Janeiro Paralympic Games.

During his years of working in the industry, Hoffmann-Kuhnt realized the divide between the standards of good-quality prostheses and rehabilitation in the broad Chinese market and his own standards. The German believes many prostheses now in the market in China are not up to standard.

Notably, Hoffmann-Kuhnt feels that it is crucial to put patients at the center of their rehabilitation process. Since they have been through a life-changing accident and have lost an extremity, individualized care and treatment should be provided to them, in addition to just an artificial limb.

"I would like to set a kind of sample for rehabilitation to increase the quality of life of more people," Hoffmann-Kuhnt said. With this goal in mind, he aims to introduce new standards to the industry, placing significant focus on comfort and more completely meeting diverse functional and aesthetic needs.

In 2020, Hoffmann-Kuhnt acquired his foreign permanent resident ID card, which is not easy to do in China. Since 2021, Hoffmann-Kuhnt has empowered dozens of amputees annually to get back on their feet and return to normal life. He hopes that his studio in Changping will continue to serve persons with disabilities and bring joy and happiness to them even after he retires.

"Working in the healthcare industry means caring and supporting each other. If everybody could contribute a small piece, we will have a better future," Hoffmann-Kuhnt concluded.