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Prosthetic Device Athlete
Marc Dunshee, a local runner and amputee who regularly
competes in marathons, utilizes Trivisonno’s prostheses dur-ing
everyday activities as well as trainings and competitions.
This includes a prosthetic blade, which Dunshee uses when
running on slippery surfaces. With more than 2,000 miles
logged on his prostheses, Dunshee’s weekly training regimen
includes several five-plus mile runs combined with biking to
and running on Wrightsville Beach.
“Dunshee is by far the most active amputee in our area
and has used this device more than any patient I’ve ever
worked with previously in private practice,” Trivisonno says.
In addition to mitigating learning curves, Trivisonno aims
to save costs for both himself and his clients, especially pro-duction
and healthcare reimbursement costs. He expects the
demand for prostheses to increase in coming years, mainly
due to the rising prevalence of diabetes, vascular issues
and cancer. With this, Trivisonno has a growing demand
for hemp fabric. Currently, he imports hemp textiles from
China, where material costs are cheap but shipping costs
remain expensive due to tariffs on imported yarn. Ideally, he
would prefer to use locally grown hemp.
“We have super-strong material all around us,” he says.
And with the passage of the state pilot program combined
with the increasingly realized benefits of growing hemp, it
seems natural to produce it on local land.
Marc Dunshee wears Kyle Trivisonno’s prosthetic limb to race with his
dog Riley during the 2018 Jingle Bell Run 5K in Wrightsville Beach.
Revolutionary Industry Investor
Another trailblazer in the local hemp industry is Justin Hamilton of Hempleton
Investment Group, a Wilmington-based company that aims to educate North Carolina
farmers about growing hemp and encouraging its production.
“The nice thing is now we’re entering the second season of harvest in North Carolina
and it’s no longer a dream, this is a reality,” Hamilton says. “I think Trivisonno is the
perfect example of what you can do with hemp fiber and actually manufacturing a product
that is better, superior to existing products.”
One environmental benefit of hemp is its suitability for phytoremediation, the process
of planting a crop on farmland that has been contaminated from over cropping or flooding.
Once established, Trivisonno explains, hemp plants clean the soil with their root
system because they possess the ability to draw out bad toxins and leave
better minerals in place.
“We can use hemp as a ‘mop crop’… to mop up those heavy
metals and some of the pesticides,” Hamilton adds.
“Plant fiber is renewable and not a skin irritant,”
Trivisonno says. “So it’s better for fabricators. The saturation
of the fiber also makes the material easier to finish and work
with. It will support U.S. agriculture and hopefully bring
back a lot of these textile jobs across the state.”
Above, Justin Hamilton of Hempleton
Investment Group envisions hemp’s
future. Ball of hemp twine, right.
COURTESY OF JUSTIN HAMILTON
18
WBM january 2019
BETH HEDGEPETH