SOUTH WINDSOR, Conn. (WTNH) — Oxford Performance Materials’ custom 3D implants can cost up to $20,000 each. But, the South Windsor manufacturer plans has sent more than 150 to help those wounded in Ukraine — for free.
“We think we’re making a real difference, because we know when that implant comes out of this facility, someone’s going to go home to their family and they’re going to look like they looked before,” said Scott DeFelice, the company’s CEO.
More than 14,000 civilians have been wounded since Russia invaded the nation last year, and another 120,000 Ukrainian forces killed or wounded.
Of the 150 donated implants, nine have been for cranial injuries.
“We all share a commitment to using groundbreaking technology for the betterment of humanity,” DeFelice said.
Due to the war, Ukraine’s regulatory body has been suspended, which allows Oxford Performance Materials to be able to make and send the implants. Each is customized for its recipient.
Each of the recipients can go through dozens of operations, said Janine Ignatenko, the co-founder of Orthopedic Help for Ukraine. Not only is it a long process — but it’s an expensive one, as well.
“They’re shipping them to Ukraine for free because they just think it’s the right thing to do,” said Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.). “That helps me make the case to the American public to my constituents that it’s the right thing for them to support taxpayer’s money going to Ukraine to fight this fight.”