More than a Broken Bone
SIGN has helped more than 425,000 people heal from fractures.
Over the last 25 years, everything SIGN has done is focused on one thing – helping injured and impoverished people get back on their feet. We empower local surgeons with orthopaedic education and donate the instruments and implants they need to care for patients with long bone fractures.
More than a Broken Bone
Treating a patient’s injury is important, but the biggest value that SIGN provides is what the surgery enables each patient to do. Most SIGN Patients with a fracture are able to stand and walk with crutches one day after surgery, leave the hospital within one week, and return to work or school in one month. This ensures that a broken leg is a temporary setback for the patient, rather than leading to a lifetime of disability.
Without access to SIGN Surgery, most patients would be in traction, lying in a hospital bed for up to three months, waiting for their fracture to heal. This means that the injured person would be out of work the entire time, pay hospital fees, and family members would be required to support the patient in the hospital. Even after all that, the patient could be left with a bone that heals out of alignment, which causes a lifelong disability.
According to the World Bank, when a family’s breadwinner is disabled, it can push the entire family into poverty for three generations. SIGN’s intervention prevents this cycle of poverty from starting by helping each patient quickly regain their mobility and return to the workforce.
SIGN Patients
Looking back over 25 years of care, each of the 425,000 patients treated with a SIGN Implant is significant, but a few loom large in our memories.
Martha, an orphan, was the first to receive the SIGN Pediatric Fin Nail in Tanzania.
Since her surgery in 2011, we have been able to follow her story, seeing her thrive in school and recently graduate and start college classes.
Mary, a young pregnant mother from South Sudan, was climbing a tree to find leaves to feed her family in the midst of a famine, when she fell and fractured bones in both legs.
Her SIGN Surgeon was able to quickly perform surgery, preventing complications with her pregnancy and stabilize her fractures. About a year later, she walked into the hospital carrying her healthy young boy.
Nicholas, a husband and father from Ghana, was injured when the truck he was riding in rolled over.
But just two weeks after SIGN Surgery, he was back at his three jobs—operating a convenience store, running a poultry farm, and working as a carpenter.
Aldrin, from the Philippines, was born with a deformity that left his knees facing backwards.
He had never walked with a normal gait, until a SIGN Surgeon was able to surgically correct the deformity and stabilize his bones with SIGN Nails. With physical therapy, Aldrin was able to take his first steps with straight legs and dream of a future that is not defined by his deformity.
Thank You
Without your support and partnership, none of these stories of healing would have been possible. Because you generously support this mission, SIGN is able to design, manufacture, and donate implants at no cost to hospitals or patients, which means that people living in poverty are able to access the care they need to recover and thrive.
What is the memory about SIGN that first comes to your mind? Perhaps it’s a patient, meeting with a surgeon, or something else in your life that sparked a connection with fracture care. We’d love to hear from you, and potentially share your story. Please email us at info@signfracturecare.org
In honor of SIGN's 25 years of healing, would you consider making a monthly gift of $25 or more?
Check the "Monthly" box and type in your gift amount on the donation form.
Throughout the year, remember your support of SIGN with background images for your computer or phone.
Discover events that shaped SIGN in a historical timeline.