Pramod Karan Sethi

1981 Ramon Magsaysay Awardee for Community Leadership from India. Dr. Sethi was the renowned orthopedic surgeon who devised a simple, cheap prosthetic limb that helped poor amputees around the world. He and a co-designer (Ram Chandra Sharma, an illiterate craftsman) developed the “Jaipur foot” which can be made anywhere in less than an hour using everyday tools and small amounts of rubber, wood and aluminum. The Jaipur foot is probably the lowest cost prosthetic limb available in the world. It has improved the lives of millions of below-the-knee amputees and poor landmine victims across the world, especially in Cambodia and Afghanistan, who could never have afforded a traditional prosthesis. The Indian dancer and actor Sudha Chandran was one of Dr. Sethi’s patients. The International Red Cross Committee (IRCC) used the “Jaipur foot” extensively in war-torn countries like Afghanistan, Iraq and the Middle East to help soldiers who lost their legs in action and during landmine attacks. Hundreds of victims of Kargil war also got themselves fitted with this artificial limb. Sethi was recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records for helping a large number of amputees in obtaining mobility again.