Our Team
John Warren, CP
Warren Prosthetic Labs was established by John. He has had dreams of creating a space to focus on the care and needs of amputees since his early days as an amputee. He will never forget those early days of pain and confusion, feeling like he had no control or information. Certainly, no context or understanding of what would come or what he could even expect.
July of 1993 was a hot one in Savannah, Georgia. John was living his first dream, teaching people how to participate in his passion, SCUBA diving. Connect with the ocean and see another world under the surface. A 20-year-old, working in a dive shop and teaching classes as a certified SCUBA instructor. Spending a shockingly boring day at work, hungry because he skipped lunch, doing an inventory count when the call came in to fill some tanks. Charging SCUBA tanks to 3000psi is a mundane process meant to protect the people doing it. This day with these tanks was a different story that would change his life forever and set him on another path. One of the twenty tanks he was set to fill was not safe; probably, none of those tanks were. The tank failed catastrophically, turned into a bomb that would shred John’s legs. A flight ambulance was called, and on this day, he survived.
He was lucky; the dive shop was located in the strip mall where the police department was. Quick thinking and a helicopter ride later, John was being treated for his wounds. The trauma surgeon felt both legs needed immediate amputation above the knee. The orthopedic surgeon had a different opinion. This man had trained on marines in far-off countries that had blast injuries from landmines. He felt the right leg could be saved. More than 20 surgeries over the next two years, and this man was proven right. The left leg had no hope. The decision to amputate above the knee was the correct one.
John began a journey that continues and evolves to this day. He took the pain and treatments, the PT, the surgeries, and found himself a successful rehabbed amputee. To borrow a phrase, he knows a thing or two because he has seen a thing or two.
John, being a near genius, figured out pretty quickly that the quality of his day depended on the quality of the prosthesis he was wearing. After working with a few prosthetists, I got mainly sores and blisters. John was left wondering, is this how it is supposed to be? Then John got in his car and drove 5 hours. He met a prosthetist who changed things. John finally found someone who listened to him. This guy got it and had the skill to execute a wonderful prosthesis. He could then see that pain and sores didn’t have to be his forever life. That the right knee and foot, and most importantly, the right socket, could allow him to get back to his life.
John put in the work, got into UT Southwestern Medical Center, and attended their prosthetics and orthotics program. He was the first NCOPE resident at the UT Southwestern clinic. More than this, he sought out mentors who would share their insights and techniques. He worked in many settings, from small mom-and-pop to large national providers. He has worked as a clinical educator for a cutting-edge prosthetic manufacturer. He was selected to provide prosthetic services to our wounded service members at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, and later served as a prosthetic lead at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda. Here, he learned to care for some of the most grievous and complex injuries in the world. He was required to provide new sockets within 48 hours of receiving a prescription from the doctors there. His patients lived where he worked. 300 sockets a month were provided. John worked closely with a multidisciplinary team to support patients throughout their journey. Mostly, he learned, and he listened. He learned that listening was the greatest asset when taking care of patients. You had to start there and continue listening and being curious enough to ask questions.