SAN DIEGO, Calif. – May 20, 2022 – Earlier this year, a San Diego-area Hanger Clinic team of orthotic experts gave a newborn giraffe a new lease on life after fitting her with custom braces. Msituni (which means “in the forest” in Swahili), the youngest giraffe at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, was born with abnormalities that caused her legs to bend incorrectly, resulting in limited mobility and pain.
Hanger Clinic consulted with the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance to design a customized treatment plan for Msituni. After several initial fittings, a team including Tim Garcia, Alexander Hetherington, Cory Johnson, Ara Mirzaian, and Stephen Tregoning worked with manufacturing partner Townsend to create custom-molded carbon graphite orthotic braces – complete with a giraffe pattern to provide a natural look – and successfully fit the giraffe with the devices. Thanks to the team’s swift action, Msituni’s legs were correctly positioned after just three weeks, and she was successfully reintroduced to her herd at the Safari Park in Escondido, California.
From broadcast news to online articles, Msituni’s remarkable comeback garnered worldwide attention. Learn more about her treatment in the news stories below, which feature in-depth interviews with Ara Mirzaian about the process of developing and fitting the braces:
About Hanger Clinic: Hanger Clinic, a subsidiary of Hanger, Inc. (NYSE: HNGR), owns and operates approximately 875 patient care clinics nationwide, where comprehensive, outcomes-based orthotic and prosthetic care is delivered. Rooted in 160 years of clinical excellence and innovation, the certified clinicians of Hanger Clinic provide compassionate, expert care and customized solutions for all ages, designed to increase the mobility and function of each person we have the honor of serving. For more information on Hanger Clinic, visit www.HangerClinic.com.
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Krisita Burket, Hanger, Inc.
904-239-4627, kburket@hanger.com
Meghan Williams, Hanger, Inc.
512-777-3701, megwilliams@hanger.com