Sambrano, who sold the shop to a larger San Diego company in the fall, said as many as 70% of his clients had diabetes, versus a quarter when he entered the business three decades ago, when most amputations resulted from car accidents and cancer.
The company moved into a 6,000-square-foot warehouse in 2004, doubling its size, and its biggest struggle today is finding qualified employees. "I've been looking to fill one of my spots since October," Sambrano said.
Peter Rosenstein, executive director of the American Academy of Orthotists and Prosthetists, said the industry's labor shortage had worsened in recent years. By some estimates, it will need 100% more workers over the next decade.
Since 2003, Congress has given the organization $4 million in grants to heighten awareness of the specialty at high school and junior college job fairs and for public awareness campaigns that are set to start this summer on television, radio and the Internet.
"We tell kids, 'You can make a good living doing this,' " Rosenstein said. "A lot of them think it's cool."
Diabetes is a metabolic disease in which the body doesn't produce enough insulin. Because diabetics have reduced circulation in their limbs, an estimated 5 of every 1,000 diabetics eventually suffer an amputation, usually of a leg. As many as half of the amputees lose two limbs.
Lilia Portales, a 67-year-old from San Bernardino, had her left leg amputated below the knee more than a year ago.
The mother of 14 and grandmother of six lost her left leg after a small cut on one of her toes developed an infection that grew so severe that doctors had to cut her toe off. When that didn't help, they removed the other toes, then her leg up to the knee.
Portales says she didn't leave her house very often at first and, tearing up to a reporter's question, acknowledges going through bouts of depression in recent months.
During a therapy session, Yule of Hanger Prosthetics tried to get Portales to walk the length of the room on her new leg with the aid of two assistance bars, promising that she would eventually be able to dance again.
"Right now, I'll be happy if I get to the grocery store more often," she said.
To capitalize on the market boom, manufacturers are introducing an unprecedented number of artificial sockets and limbs, many aimed at older and overweight users rather than the younger patients who have traditionally been the focus for new products.
