Advertisement

Thanks for watching Larry King Now on Ora.tv!

Nick Swisher on 2017 Yankees, A-Rod, and life in retirement

More from Ora: Nick Swisher on 2017 Yankees, A-Rod, and life in retirement

Lauren Scruggs Kennedy: Accident changed my perspective on beauty

Larry King NowJun 05 '17

Lauren Scruggs Kennedy – who lost her left hand and eye when she walked into a plane’s propeller in 2011 – explains how the accident changed her perspective on beauty.

Larry King: You said that the prosthetic arm made a big difference in your life. How?

Lauren Scruggs Kennedy: I think because I was used to having two arms, I think just losing a hand made me feel incomplete, and so having another arm that made me feel like a whole person was really healing for me.

Larry King: So you met your husband after all of this?

Lauren Scruggs Kennedy: Yes, I did.

Larry King: How expensive is a prosthetic arm?

Lauren Scruggs Kennedy: So this one, they’re all different, but this is the passive arm, so it has no function, and with the cosmetic covering, is about 30-35,000.

Larry King: You can’t use it?

Lauren Scruggs Kennedy: No. So I have one I can use, it’s called a myoelectric. I just don’t like it, because I don’t feel like it’s feminine. And it kind of just gets in the way, once you learn how to do everything.

Larry King: Now what does the Lauren Scruggs Kennedy Foundation for women who have lost a limb, what is its purpose?

Lauren Scruggs Kennedy: We actually provide the cosmetic coverings for prosthetic arms and legs. And then, just walk through that journey with the women. One of my experiences was I didn’t know a lot of girls that had had limb loss, and then I met Bethany Hamilton, who was bit by a shark over ten years ago, and lost her arm, and she became a dear friend, and then just met a lot of other girls-

Larry King: Are there many prosthetics in the world?

Lauren Scruggs Kennedy: A lot. A lot. And I was so unaware before that.

Larry King: Doesn’t insurance cover it?
Lauren Scruggs Kennedy: Not often. No.

Larry King: Wait a minute.

Lauren Scruggs Kennedy: Very rarely.

Larry King: You have health insurance.

Lauren Scruggs Kennedy: Yes.

Larry King: You lose an arm. It’s not covered? What is covered? Is the surgery covered?

Lauren Scruggs Kennedy: They covered a lot of my—I was a rare story, so they covered a lot more for me than normal, but I started meeting all these women that no one was covered, none of it. Even my friend, lost all four limbs, she’s my age, has two kids, young kids, and all they would provide for her were hooks for her hands, and she’s thinking, “I’m going through so much emotional pain and trying to raise my children, and you’re going to give me hooks for my arm? Like I can’t handle that, so-”

Larry King: So your foundation will provide money, provide prosthetics?

Lauren Scruggs Kennedy: Yes, yes. So specifically the cosmetic covering. So a lot of times insurance will cover the basic arm, and then the cosmetic covering is what makes it beautiful and realistic-looking.

Larry King: They do a nice job.

Lauren Scruggs Kennedy: Thank you, I agree.

Larry King: [Points to Lauren’s arm] Was all that done in Texas?

Lauren Scruggs Kennedy: It is, yes. By an amazing family, they started this business in their garage, basically everyone from around the world, they want to get in with ARTech to have them paint their prosthetic limbs.

Larry King: What’s the name of it?

Lauren Scruggs Kennedy: ARTech.

Larry King: ARTech. How do I get in touch with the foundation?

Lauren Scruggs Kennedy: So our website is lskfoundation.com.

Larry King: Lskfoundation.com.

Lauren Scruggs Kennedy: Yes.

Larry King: And you get all the information there as to how people can help.

Lauren Scruggs Kennedy: Yes, yep. And we have an Instagram @thelskfoundation.

Larry King: Watch new episodes of ‘Larry King Now’ Monday, Wednesday, and Friday on demand on Ora TV and Hulu.

Advertisement