One Left Documentary: Production and Recovery Support

Chad Kelco is organizing this fundraiser.

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ONE LEFT : Learning To Live With Limb Loss, Riding, Recovery, and Rebirth.

One Left is a documentary film following amputee and Oregon creative, Richard E. Jones, and how a revolutionary reconstructive surgery technique called osseointegration will alter his life forever. This documentary will bring awareness of the osseointegration procedure to a wider audience. The donated funds will benefit both Richard’s recovery and the production costs of the film, including promotion and distribution.

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to the One Left Documentary GoFundMe page. Friends for 30 years, amputee and art director Richard E. Jones and filmmaker Chad Kelco have teamed up to document Richard’s osseointegration surgery and recovery. This documentary intends to bring awareness of this revolutionary procedure to a wider audience.

BACKSTORY

In 2010, Richard was injured in a near-fatal motorcycle accident that resulted in a below-the-knee amputation of his right leg. The trauma of limb loss was not the only thing Richard would have to overcome. For the next 14 years, he would face depression, addiction to pain medications, broken relationships, and financial hardships. Finally, in 2024, Richard has new-found hope for rebirth and a life free from physical and mental pain brought about by this injury.

Richard's residual limb has never accepted a prosthetic socket well. He has been fitted with many prosthetic systems that have continually failed to offer comfort or adequate range of motion, often forcing him to remain off the limb entirely for long periods. On Tuesday, September 17, 2024, Richard will undergo surgery for osseointegration. This procedure integrates a titanium implant into the bone, allowing for a prosthesis to be attached directly to the implant bypassing the need for a socket.

The first osseointegration procedure was performed in Sweden in the early 90s, though it has only gained acceptance in Australia and Europe within the last 14 years. It is not currently available in the United States, without case-by-case FDA approval. Richard’s procedure will be the 6th performed in the Pacific Northwest by Dr. Steven Wallace, who has championed this technique.

Recovery from osseointegration surgery is typically 3 months, with load-bearing the new implant in the first 6 weeks. Full recovery is estimated at 6 months to 1 year. Richard works full-time as an art director for an Oregon-based company and is still awaiting disability insurance for his 3-month leave of absence. While hopeful that this insurance will be approved, it is still under review as of Sept 15, just 2 days before the surgery.

Chad Kelco is a professional photographer and cinematographer. Originally from Kansas City, Chad moved to San Diego in 1992 and met Richard while working together at Kinkos. They immediately formed an unbreakable bond, forged from skateboarding, music, art, and creative collaboration. In 2010, their friendship would change forever. Richard’s motorcycle accident resulted in a series of phone calls between the two, and in between 11 emergency surgeries trying to save the leg, their conversations led to the ultimate decision to amputate the injured limb. Chad flew to Portland to take care of Richard at home for several weeks directly after his leg was amputated. This was a new chapter in their friendship, losing skateboarding which was such a cornerstone of their lives up to this point.

Flash forward to 2024, Chad receives another phone call, this time with an almost impossibly hopeful message. Through a revolutionary new surgical procedure, osseointegration, there was potential to get back the activities they once shared. The idea for this documentary was born from this phone call upon hearing Richard’s osseointegration surgery was officially approved. Chad is the Director of Photography and editor on the One Left documentary, working directly with Richard during the entire osseointegration process, filming the events leading up to the procedure and throughout the entire recovery.

PRODUCTION COSTS

The One Left donation budget includes Richard’s recovery costs and the documentary production expenses. The breakdown provided is a best-case scenario to supplement Richard while he is unable to work and for his co-writing and producing of the documentary.

The production estimate includes Chad’s involvement in writing, filming, editing, and producing. Ideally, this donated income will allow Chad to travel to Oregon freely to obtain all the time-sensitive material for the film, as well as, maintain focusing on this project as he would a fully-funded production.

Filming began in Oregon City and surrounding areas in early September 2024, in which all of the footage was obtained and edited to create the documentary trailer. Thus far, all of the production has been self-funded.

Ideally, writer Sean Smith can be an afforded addition to the documentary team. Sean has written for motorcycle lifestyle media Hell For Leather, and Ride Apart, and can bring years of expertise and industry relationships to the production.

Chad and Richard are solely developing the marketing and promotion pipelines, and creating content for social media with the intent of bringing One Left to media outlets such as film festivals, print and digital media, and streaming services.

Included in the One Left donation budget, is an estimate to provide 3 months of income not covered by disability insurance. If Richard’s insurance is denied, he may be unable to work and make his entire 3-month salary, approximately $15,000.

SUMMARY

Using years of combined creative skills and connections to the amputee, motorcycle, and skateboarding communities, Chad and Richard are creating a documentary that will bring widespread attention to osseointegration and its benefits for others facing limb loss. It is hoped that this increased visibility and public awareness will expedite the acceptance of this procedure in the medical community and increase the likelihood for amputees to find immediate support and relief from the life-altering event of limb loss and recovery.

Your donations are extremely important for the One Left team to produce an effective film that can help so many others living with the trauma of limb loss.

One Left is currently in production and is planned for release in 2025.

We hope that you will take this ride with us…..

“Osseointegration offers amputees like me a chance to reclaim more of our lives through less wear and tear to our residual limbs, more mobility, and the chance to live a life with less pain, possibly even close to a “normal” baseline.”

“I truly believe that if I’d had the opportunity to choose osseointegration back in 2010, the quality of my life these last 14 years would have been vastly different.”

“Standing on the precipice of this amazing (and scary) new adventure, it is a great pleasure to share a new project with all of you.”

Sincerely,

Richard E. Jones