About Us
“TELL With Pride” which stands for “Together Embracing Limb Loss With Pride.” It is an online amputee community, where amputees not only locally, but from all over the world, are able to get together. Here, amputees are given a format to meet, find answers, ask questions and start discussions, sharing their lives and experiences with one another.
My name is John Robertson. Many years ago I injured both knees in the United Stated Navy and since there was no current conflict, I was discharged with an Honorable Medical Discharge. After leaving the Navy, I had both knees repaired. I ended up getting involved in Karate with the N.J. Black belt Association, where I earned the rank of 3rd Dan (3rd degree Black). I was very active in the arts, various sports and more. Years later I met a wonderful lady named Kerry, who later became my wife and together we had two great children, John and Kiersten.
I had started dabbling in Magic, Illusions, Stilt Walking and Hypnosis and went Professional after performing for a 3 year old little girl who needed a heart transplant. Since then we have performed to raise money for many organizations such as: Special Olympics, Leukemia, Cancer victims and many more. We have been performing for 17 plus years now. I also teach Youth Sunday School and have coached Baseball, Soccer, worked with the
I injured my ankle one day playing Basketball and after many years of surgeries, found out that I needed an ankle fusion. However due to a bad surgery I had lost my leg below the knee.
It was after this that many questions hit me. How am I going to live not having my leg? How am I going to keep my job as an RN (registered nurse)? Can I still do the things I have been doing with my family? Can I still perform Magic and Illusions and many more questions?
The support we receive from our family and friends is only one part of the support network that helps us through these questions and trying times. The other comes from being able to speak with others that are going through something similar. Since there were no local support groups where I live that were easily accessible, I started surfing the internet for my information.
I now suffer with severe neuropathy pain from the amputation but, continue to do everything that I once had, with some modification. Using my RN Background, Experiences as an Amputee and my Hypnosis and Magic background, I have put together an informative, energetic and motivational program. Over the past 6 years I have been using this program to go out and speak with patients who were going to lose a limb, from local hospitals to patients from
Through all this I saw the need for a local support group and the need to combine it with a web site where others could get together and help each other. So after roughly 6 years of meeting others and learning from the experience, I founded the “TELL With Pride” web site and Support group. The name “TELL With Pride” which stands for “Together Embracing Limb Loss With Pride.” was a name thought of by my wife, which basically states it all. Being an amputee not only affects the individual but also affects the whole family. This will be seen in a small booklet that I am working on with a good friend and Support Group Team Member, Brent Thornton MSW, a Social Worker from
After laying the ground work, I asked Gerald R. Baxter, C.P.A and a few fellow amputees, Jo Anne Hagins and Ron Esposito to come aboard and work with me in making the support group grow and be the best that it can be. It's great to see that, what was once a dream, is now a reality.
Recently myself and another member from
Because of various equipment donations such as canes, walkers, wheelchairs, etc… we have been able to help others with things that they may have otherwise been unable to obtain.
My Motto is: Believe in the magic of your dreams. Because, what ever you dream, can become reality, all you have to do is try.
Support Group Team Members
Illusionist John Robertson and Family
Illusionist John Robertson and Family Page 2
