News 02.12.24

LIVING LIFE UNLIMITED

“Don’t sweat the small stuff but appreciate the little things.” – Korrin Barrett. Motivational speaker, board member, disability advocate, TASKA Champion.

People talk about ‘the little things in life’ a lot. But many won’t have the context to appreciate what a big deal these little things are unless they spend fifteen minutes having a chat with Korrin Barrett.

“Just being able to hold a knife. You can’t imagine what that meant.” Korrin said of a recent restaurant experience. For the first time, going out to a restaurant with her TASKA CX™, her friend asked (as per usual), ‘Would you like me to cut your food for you?’ and Korrin was able to say, ‘No, I’ve got this.’

Korrin is a quad amputee. She lost both her legs below the knee and the fingers of her left hand, as well as her right arm to mid-forearm, from sepsis caused by an undetected perforated bowel. Her ordeal led to many days spent in an induced coma, followed by months in the hospital as she painstakingly relearnt to be independent. 

Prior to Korrin’s return to New Zealand from Australia in 2018, she reached out to the TASKA team about testing the new TASKA Hand. “When Mat and David had the prototype ready for me to try, they actually flew me up and met me in Hawkes Bay.” The next day, Korrin flew out to the bilateral limb conference “Skills for Life” in the United States, ready to begin testing the TASKA Hand.

Korrin is popular on the public speaking circuit and has a strong message to share about the power of resilience. “Growing up, life wasn’t great, so I’ve always been resilient. Before this happened, I took so many things for granted. It was a major shift in appreciation and gratitude.” Korrin says the biggest lesson is learning to appreciate the little things. Celebrating the achievements along the way. Making sure we are looking forward – being realistic about goals.

Korrin has three mottos she lives by that she strives to share with other people:

1. Don’t sweat the small stuff.

2. If it doesn’t challenge you, it doesn’t change you.

3. Life is 10% what happens and 90% how you respond to it. Life is all about how we choose to react, and there is lots of life to live.

“I love that the small TASKA CX is quite feminine, and I love changing the Coverplates,” Korrin says she likes matching her wardrobe to her hand. Her favorite plate for evening functions is the white one. “Best of all, I can hold a glass of wine.” With her previous prosthetic hand, Korrin had a grip malfunction and couldn’t let go of the wine glass. She ended up taking the glass home from the event. “That was quite the taxi ride home!” she laughs. “This new hand has been a real jump in quality and trust for me.” For more information on the TASKA CX Hand, visit www.taskaprosthetics.com