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Amputees get to walk again with Wii Fit

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wii balance board
wii balance board

We all know and love the Wii Fit and it is arguably the game of 2008, but for amputees in a Leeds hospital, it has meant that they could finally get back on their feet again.

Patients at the Seacroft Hospital are the first in the UK to use the Wii Fit Balance Board to get used to their new prosthetic limbs.

Standing on the board can help physiotherapists and patients gauge where their centre of gravity is following the loss of a limb. In doing so, the patient can regain their balance.

The games that come with the Wii Fit are very similar to physiotherapy exercises. One patient, David Crossland told the Yorkshire Evening Post that the balance board helped in learning to walk again.

“The Wii gives you confidence in yourself to go out and feel you are not going to fall on the floor, which is a great thing.”

Friends of Seacroft Hospital paid to have the Wii console after being told how useful it was in helping amputees, especially younger people.

Physiotherapist Lynn Hirst said: “The most difficult thing for a prosthetic patient is getting their weight through the prosthetic limb. With the balance board, it shows them where they are taking their weight through.”

She added that a woman in her nineties was “fascinated” by the console.