Selinsgrove resident heads up support group for amputees
Jan. 14—SELINSGROVE — John Werner Jr. had been retired from Xerox after 41 years for just a couple of months in January. 2019 when he began experiencing extreme pain in his ankle. Two months later, his right leg below the knee was amputated.
"It was a shock," the 68-year-old Selinsgrove resident said of losing part of his leg after developing a severe infection.
To help him deal with his new circumstance, Werner joined an online national amputee support group and spent the next several months being fitted and getting comfortable with using a prosthetic leg.
The online meetings were informative, but he wanted to meet in person with other amputees. He received training through the Amputee Coalition of America to become a certified peer visitor and started a monthly group meeting a year ago.
"It's a life-changing event (losing a limb). I just want people to know they're not alone," said Werner.
He reached out to the Sunbury YMCA and was offered a room free of charge where meetings are held.
"I'm so thankful to them for that," he said of the organization.
One of the first individuals to attend a meeting was Kierstin Paroli-Bucher, a 31-year-old Kratzerville woman who lost her right arm below the elbow in a September 2020 ATV accident.
She and Werner have forged a close friendship. "I'm his right-hand help," Paroli-Bucher quips about her interest in growing the support group.
Paroli-Bucher said her family and friends have been a constant support but meeting with others who are similarly challenged due to a limb amputation has been eye-opening.
Meetings are usually held at 1 p.m. on the third Saturday of the month at the Y. For more information, contact Werner at jjwerner@gmail.com or 570-765-3443.
"They will find people that are there to support them in anything they want to do, they'll find help, they'll find friendship," she said of what the meetings offer. "It's a lot different when you're talking with another amputee. They'll learn it's not the end of the world,"
Five months after Paroli-Bucher's accident, she discovered she was pregnant.
It took another two years and a few prosthetics before she returned to her job as a dog groomer. Paroli-Bucher also recently learned she is expecting a second child.
Werner said attendees of the meetings will be able to share stories and learn like he and Paroli-Bucher have that "life is not over. Life goes on. This is a new change."
When he retired in the fall of 2018, Werner said he was planning "to enjoy life" without an inkling of what was to come.
He's doing what he intended. "I might be a little slower, but I'm doing it."
