About Holly
| Buy 1-UP Hair Ties | Using 1-UP Hair Tie | Other Sites | Contact Me | About Holly |
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A handful of independence… Hi there! Thanks for visiting my site. My name is Holly Franklin. I’m from Brisbane Australia, currently living in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt. I’m just your average girl next door; working, playing, travelling the world and enjoying life as much as possible. I’m appreciating life more than ever since I became an amputee. I’m the get on with it type person, I’ve got the will and I do my best to find a way. Pity is not allowed and please don’t mistake me for being disabled - I’m only inconvenienced. After a long battle with complications of multiple operations and arterial venus malformation (AVM) in my left forearm, I became an upper limb amputee in July 2005. Since then, like many others, I’ve taken on the challenge of living a regular life with one hand. Becoming an amputee at age 29 was a bit of a shock. I was aware that it would be a possibility, but not that soon. I was in a lot of pain and highly medicated for months prior to the amputation. As soon as I woke up from the operation, it all stopped. I returned to my normal self pretty quickly. Since age 7 onwards I’ve had operations on my left arm, so I was slightly ahead of the game when it came to rehabilitation. I was doing my own dressings/bandages and making my hospital bed (due to sheer boredom) 2 days after the amputation. I went down the whole cosmetic false arm path, until I realised I was wearing it for others. It was as useful as a block of wood. When I first got it and was “wearing it in” it was a great source of amusement for friends and co workers as they used it for fun and scare tactics. It was also a bit of a shock to some people, especially when I didn’t wear enough stump socks and it would fall off. Just imagine a life like limb falling to the ground on the streets of London and you can imagine the looks. I’ve lived the last few years prosthetic free, until Christmas 2007 where I nearly lost The Christmas Roast and trimmings to the kitchen floor. I realised there are a few advantages to having an aide. I’ve now got a handy multi tool prosthetic. I only wear it when I’m making things, especially roast dinners. Most of the time, all the adventures and travel I do, I do it prosthetic free. In the last few years I’ve bungee jumped, white water rafted, quad biked around an island and across a desert plain, learned the basics of snowboarding, swam with sharks, canoed a river, sailed a yacht and passed the Red Cross first aid course – so I can look after myself when I pass out from the exhaustion of it all. And in June 2010 I became a PADI Scuba Diver Instructor (the reason why I'm living in Egypt). I’ve found ways around many problems that no "healthy" person thinks twice of – putting toothpaste on my toothbrush, peeling a banana, tie my laces.. blah blah blah. I just get on with it. The only thing, other than rock wall climbing, that I couldn’t do was put my hair up quickly and easily. It bugged me for ages, I tried clips and head bands, but just a simple pony tail eluded me. I searched the internet for ages and I could only find ‘how to’ instructions for pony tails that involved door knobs, laying backwards on a couch and other methods. Which are all things I’d personally not want to on a windy day in public. Not finding any solutions that didn’t require a degree in contortion, I kept my hair short for a few years – yuck! Over a few months and with various sources of inspiration (Thank you Rebecca and Angela), I finally have a design that works. I got to thinking; there must be many hundreds of girls, women and a few guys out there who are keeping their hair short because they don’t have an easier solution. So I wanted to spread the word “there is now one less challenge in your daily life”. The hair tie is not only for amputees, others who are living with congenital conditions, paralysis, arthritis and others with limited mobility are now making use of the 1-UP Hair Tie. Based on my experience as an amputee, I’m experimenting with designs to create a line of products, (including the hair tie), that will either give people an extra handful of independence or give us the confidence to strut the streets with a bit of bling and beauty. Click here for 1-UP Press Release |
!NEW! Ms. Hook Scuba Adventures
blog. 
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What else have I been up to?
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Super Prosthetics Project October 2009 - Present
The project is being conducted at the Royal Collage of Art in London
by Becky Pilditch and with the help of Holly Franklin. It has developed
in conversation with individuals who wear and make prosthetics limbs
and the blog has been created to make the process visible for those
who wish to share ideas and continue dialogue on the subject. Check
out the blog and
feel free to comment on the material. Becky and I would love to hear
your thoughts.
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L.I.S. Life in South London Magazine Life is for Living article. |
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Southwark Fair A play by Samuel Adamson. In 2006 I was a 'technical advisor' to Madeleine Potter. My prosthetist, Nick Hillsdon at Roehampton Clinic, thought I'd be interested in helping Madeline with her character Toni who has a false hand. Based on my experience as an amputee I gave her tips on what an amputee can and can't do, how to move and such. Nick and his team created her a prosthetic that fitted her real hand. It was a great experience, giving me a taste of the theatre life |
Favourable Mentions
| IMPERFECT - http://www.imperfect.uk.com/ImperfectPeople.htm |
Douglas Bader Foundation - http://www.douglasbaderfoundation.co.uk/2009/07/06/one-hand-hair-ties/ |
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Limbless Association - http://www.limbless-association.org/news.php/139/amputee-creates-hair-product-to-solve-her-own-problem |
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Limb Loss Information Centre - http://www.limblossinformationcentre.com/rehabilitation/miscellaneous-aids/ |
