Robert Bellshmied is a retired mechanic in Chicago who used to be a very active person. Unfortunately, all that changed when he got a small wound on his right leg.
“It started as a bone infection and within two days it had turned black,” Robert recalled. Healing this wound with traditional wound treatment products proved to be unsuccessful. “It ruined my life for 10 months. I couldn’t drive a car, I couldn’t help my wife, I couldn’t do anything. It was driving me crazy.”
Robert has a history of diabetes, like over 10 percent of the population in Chicago. Diabetes causes poor blood circulation, which results in slow healing times for wounds, especially in the lower extremities.
Then Dr. Rimi Statkus, a podiatric physician at Northern Illinois Foot & Ankle Specialists in Chicago, called Robert and proposed that he come in for a new treatment: Kerecis fish-skin grafts, made from North-Atlantic Cod
At first, Robert reacted with skepticism. “This is kind of a hoax, I thought, but I was game for it because this was looking bad.”
The rate of incorporation of the fish skin into his wound was immediately noticeable within just a few days.
On the scientific merits of the fish skin Dr. Statkus remarked that “Head-to-head research is showing us that it is quicker in terms of healing.”
Commenting on his treatment results, Robert noted, “You are going from an invalid to pretty much back to normal.” He is now able to re-model his house, climb ladders, and carry tools around, something that he never thought possible before that fateful phone call from Dr. Statkus.
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