Randi Steele: Grandmother Goes Golfing—with ‘Help’ from Friends!

Randi took her research to Lawall prosthetist Jeff Koach, CPO, and in late 2025, she was fitted with her new body-powered trans-radial prosthesis with its two terminal attachments: the basic hook, plus the additional cycling grip that has lived up to her optimistic expectations—and which raised other exciting possibilities:

“Once I used the cycling attachment so successfully, I wanted to check into getting a golfing attachment,” Randi said. “My husband golfs, and it’s hard for me to do that one-handed!”  The cost to purchase such a device, not covered by insurance, however, was prohibitive. 

Lawall’s Connor Hart, CO, came to the rescue by connecting her with a potential solution.  A dedicated community service volunteer since his days as an O&P student, with over 10 years’ experience working with upper extremity prosthetics, Hart continues serving now as prosthetic and orthotic consultant to the May We Help? 501(c)3 organization, which provides custom solutions for individuals with disabilities. 

Since recreational prosthetic attachments for both lower and upper limb prosthetic devices require costly customizations, but most are not considered “medically necessary”, they’re not typically covered by healthcare insurance providers, Hart points out.

“If you’re missing an arm, insurers consider it medically necessary that you might need a prosthetic hand to get you back to everyday life and daily tasks; but they don’t consider it necessary to restore you to the level of activity you enjoyed prior to an amputation—or to the level of activity you would like to be able to enjoy in the future. I compare it to being limited to using only a bike for transportation: You may be able to complete your daily commutes to work, the grocery store, and other local destinations with a bike, but it will take a lot of effort and your recreational options are significantly limited. You may only have the energy to visit your friends across town once every few months and going on a vacation may seem impossible! For upper-extremity amputees, the basic need to replace a missing hand/arm is met by the insurance, but the functionality required to achieve one’s goals and dreams is often lacking, which is why I refer my patients to nonprofit organizations like May We Help.

“‘May We Help?’ volunteers include those with special skills and professional experience who want to give back to the community—like retired engineers and others willing to help by brainstorming and creating solutions,” he notes. “It seemed like an ideal answer to Randi’s desire for a golfing attachment for her prosthesis.”

Beau Bramer, May We Help’s Project Manager, explains that ‘three guys named Bill’ who enjoyed helping their neighbors locally, then through the grapevine, formed the Cincinnati-based organization in 2009; and from 180 projects resolved by 30 or 40 volunteers during its first decade, it has grown currently to 1800 requests for help, answered by hundreds of volunteers who provide solutions to people in 44 states and six countries. 

“Although we are a tiny team,” says Bramer, “with only three full-time employees, the bulk of our work is done by volunteers—engineers, machinists, welders, physical therapists, occupational therapists, tinkerers, problem-solvers, and more; recent volunteers in Colorado, Michigan, Florida, Connecticut, and other states have signed on.”

Although the group doesn’t do home or vehicle modifications, or provide solutions that are already widely available, “We’re there for those who don’t have anywhere else to turn,” Bramer explains. “If you come to us and your arthritis has gotten so bad that you’re having a hard time using a potato peeler, we’ll figure out how to make a potato peeler that’s friendly to arthritis.”

Approved applications to the May We Help website are posted for MWH team members, who read their problem statements, then step up to volunteer their help resolving the issue. The volunteer then meets with the recipient—in person or on-line—and they work collaboratively to build the thing that is needed. 

Bramer notes that 94% of received applications are completed and delivered by May We Help. 

“So, when I was at Lawall getting my cycling attachment adjusted, Connor told me about the May We Help? program, and its potential for helping me with a golf attachment, and since I was enjoying the bicycling attachment so much, I was all in!” said Randi. “We were both excited!”

Hart made the referral to May We Help, who approved the project, and their experts worked with Lawall’s guidance to design and create the custom solution with input from Randi. 

“The attachments are like snap-on tools,” she explained. “I can pop off the hook and put the cycling attachment on. The May We Help experts basically designed the golfing attachment to attach to the pop-in socket in the same way the cycling attachment does.

“We had a virtual meeting that included Connor, myself, and three gentlemen who work with May We Help. They designed it, and we received a prototype, which was tweaked back and forth—it was really cool!  I was absolutely amazed at how quickly they did it-–we met in February, and it was less than six months from start to finish!  These guys are amazing, absolutely brilliant! I couldn’t believe it!”

Hart served as project lead, while MWH engineers designed the device and created a prototype which Randi trialed at the Lawall clinic under the supervision of Hart and Koach. The adjusted prototype was sent back to MWH where the final terminal device was manufactured, then returned to the Lawall team for final fitting on their patient. 

May We Help volunteer Ed Hess, a retired aerospace engineer who previously designed jet engine parts for GE, worked on Randi’s project—one of half a dozen projects he’s completed for MWH. Working from a photo of a similar device, he used himself as a model to calculate the angles, and confirmed dimensions with Hart before designing and creating a golfing terminal prototype out of aluminum tubing and a bedspring. 

The greatest challenge was the spring, he noted. “It had to be stiff enough that it wouldn’t flop around when you were holding onto the club, but yet flexible enough to duplicate natural wrist movement at the back end of the arc when you swing the club through its complete arc.”

When Randi and the Lawall team confirmed that the prototype worked well for her, Hess created the final device from carbon fiber, which reduced its weight by half. (Hess had previously created a tandem bicycle and a racing tricycle from carbon fiber.) He estimates a total of 40 hours spent working on the project—although allowing the carbon fiber to dry between steps brought the total time to delivery to about a month.

At July’s end, Randi had not yet tested the golfing attachment on a golf course, but had been practicing on driving ranges.  “It’s been wonderful—just awesome!” she exclaims. “I’ve been driving, hitting like 75 to 80 yards with it!  Before, I could putt with one hand—but this also helps with my putting!”

She looks forward to debuting the device soon at a golfing fundraiser event to benefit the Harrisburg homeless community. “I’m not up to playing 18 holes yet, but I can sure volunteer to help!”

As a retired para-professional educator who worked in a school for many years before retiring, she recognizes that people, and especially children, often don’t know what to say to a person wearing a prosthesis. “I like to make people feel comfortable,” she explains. “If kids ask a question, always answer it and explain it to them,” she advises. “Or if they’re staring and their parents correct them, I say, ‘It’s okay! They’re curious; I’m totally fine with it!’  It’s who I am!”

Her three grandchildren call her arm her paw, “because it looks like a paw. My youngest son started that, called it ‘Mommy’s paw!’  So sweet and innocent—I love it!”

She warns upper limb prosthesis wearers to be aware of the dangers to their functional arm from overuse. “All the years that I didn’t have a hand or didn’t have a prosthesis, I’m paying for it now, because overuse has caused some deterioration and discomfort. You need to know when you NEED to use it. I don’t wear mine all the time, I just wear it when I need to protect my functional hand.”

“I think it’s so important that people are able to move and DO things!” she adds. “If you’re limited from participating in an activity because of a physical disability, a prosthesis helps you maintain better health, better quality of life. As I’m getting older, I’m finding these things are important, because my joints and muscles just don’t work like they used to.  If you can get prosthetic attachments that help you to move and participate more, that improves your overall good health longterm.

 ‘I didn’t know about any of these opportunities that were available to me until I started doing research. Do your research—and ask a professional about attachments that are available for recreational use!”