The son of Village of Glenbrook residents Jim and Debbie Campana is doing ground-breaking work developing 3-D prosthetics for animals.
His company, Animal Ortho Care in Chantilly, Va., is creating and shipping prosthetics and orthotics for dogs, cats and other animals.
A video story about Campana’s role in building prosthetics for a dog born with deformed paws has been viewed more than 5 million times.
You can view the video here:
The story of Derby the Dog also was featured in USA Today this week. You can read the clip here:
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2014/12/18/derby-dog-3d-printed-prosthetics/20621097/Â
Dogs dominate his work, but growing up in Upstate New York, Derrick’s first pet was a cat named, Molly. She lived 20 years.
“We weren’t dog people,” said his mother. “We were cat people.”
And Derrick originally intended to create orthotics and prosthetics for people not pets.
Derrick started designing devices for pets on the side. But the business grew rapidly and three years ago he quit his “day job,” and threw all of his energy into creating devices for pets.
He now designs prosthetics for pets all over the world.
For instance, a pet owner in Australia can receive a casting kit from Animal Ortho Care and create the cast themselves following a video. Or, if they feel more comfortable, they can ask their veterinarian to do it.
The cast is sent back to Animal Ortho Care, where a custom 3-D device is created.
He has created prosthetics for all types of animals, including goats and lizards, his mother said.
Derrick is married to an international flight attendant and they have a son. The family has a dog a named Henry, a cat named Gabe and two fish tanks.
