A Danish Mission: From the Trenches to the Runway

A Danish engineer founded a company developing prosthetics and helping Ukrainian veterans with amputations lead active lives.

Danish engineer Lasse Werner Madsen lost his right leg above the knee as a teenager. At the time, active leg prostheses, a whole new technology, were effectively inaccessible, so he had to rely on an improvised device assembled by his prosthetist.

Later, frustrated by how difficult it was to obtain a modern active prosthesis, Lasse—by then an engineer with a decade of professional experience—devoted two years to developing his first prosthetic solution in collaboration with leading engineers from the Technical University of Denmark. Today, his innovations support not only people worldwide who have undergone amputations, but also Ukrainian veterans.

This support goes beyond everyday functionality. This year, Ukrainian veterans using prostheses developed by the Danish engineer walked the runway at Ukrainian Fashion Week.

Ukrinform spoke with Lasse about how he founded the venture and how his work is helping Ukrainians.

AMPUTATION IS NOT A SENTENCE

“I lost my leg more than 20 years ago in a road traffic accident; I was only 14 at the time. Back then, I had no opportunity to communicate with like-minded people or find support. I was involved in gymnastics and wanted to return to sport, so I needed appropriate equipment and a circle of people who would support me.

This is exactly the opportunity we are now trying to create in Ukraine: so that people who have experienced amputations receive support at the early stages of recovery, can stay physically active, and return to a full, meaningful life. Our mission is to provide equal access to an active life,” says Lasse Werner Madsen.

ФотоAs the company’s founder and chief executive officer, he is personally and actively involved in the new product development process. At the same time, he emphasizes that this is a collective effort in which every team member makes an important contribution. In Denmark, the company has its own dedicated research and development team working on the design and continuous improvement of prosthetic solutions.

Because the equipment is expensive, the company works with various partner organizations that help cover the costs. Lasse personally secures funding in other countries and delivers the prosthetic devices to Ukraine. To date, more than a thousand Ukrainians have already received them.

BY PERSONAL EXAMPLE

“We had responded to Ukrainians’ request for help. At first, we visited Lviv and one of the local hospitals that treated hundreds of patients with amputations. When they saw how I move and what I can do with a prosthesis, I was allowed into all the wards. I spoke with dozens of people and answered their questions: whether it is possible to return to work, play sports, play with children. After that, I realized we had to come back and continue working here,” Lasse recalls.

He says that he plans to open an office in Ukraine in the near future and create additional jobs for both Ukrainian and international specialists, including veterans. Some of the company’s employees have already relocated to Ukraine, underscoring a long-term commitment to working on the ground rather than limiting support to short-term humanitarian deliveries.

Lasse himself has already made 18 trips to Ukraine since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.

I ask him whether there are any particular stories that have deeply moved him.

“There is one story that is very close to my heart,” he says. “At a conference, I met a soldier from the front line. He told me that during heavy shelling he had to move quickly, and it was thanks to our prosthesis that he was able to escape and survive. That left a deep mark on my heart.”

He also emphasizes that their work will not stop: the company continues to develop new prosthetic solutions tailored to the needs of Ukrainians.

Myroslava Lypa, Kropyvnytskyi

Photo via Author