Stumped! was created by Raluca due to her frustration with unavailability of all the information she needed to help her patient who had just had an amputation. At the time, Raluca was enrolled in the first year of her Undergraduate degree in Nursing. This happened to be her first placement as an Adult Student Nurse. Having had her grandfather who decided not to leave the home for 13 years after the amputation, Raluca was painfully aware of what being alone can feel like. Soon after that she contacted Pedro, a fellow student who open-heartedly got involved in this quest for finding information. Misbah joined the group later on and added her great IT skills to a very nursing oriented mindset.
Raluca and Pedro were determined to find out more about limb loss and what people who experience limb loss go through. They were fortunate to meet Ray Edwards who is the longest living quad amputee and also Founder of Limbcare charity. They had a meeting for several hours whilst he shared his incredible story about how he overcame all the challenges he faced. Ray reinforced the founders' passion to continue with this search.
After conducting preliminary research, Stumped! competed in a 'Dragon's Den' type competition chaired by Oxford Brookes Social Entrepreneurship Awards (OBSEA) with the view of receiving funding to further researching the area of interest. The panel was diverse, including professionals from: business, technology, healthcare and funding was offered courtesy of Santander Bank.
"Try it" Award!
After a successful pitch at the Dragon's Den, Stumped! were nominated to represent Oxford Brookes University in Global Challenge organised by Oxford University. Additionally, funding was awarded to conduct further investigations into the project idea.
Raluca and Pedro were invited to meet the limb loss people who attended the charity at one of their events. The "Finding your Feet" family warmly welcomed them and shared their stories, struggles and achievements through open and frank discussions. These have enthused and inspired the founders to pursue their goal of understanding what people with limb loss need to help them through this life-changing event.
Oxford Brookes University shared Stumped!'s success in the University Newsletter.
After the nomination from Oxford Brookes University, Stumped! were one of the 12 teams shortlisted from 200 applications worldwide.
Karen was inspired by Raluca and Pedro’s drive to know more about limb loss and the people experiencing it. Karen has kindly dedicated time to support the founders understand these aspects better, due to her vast experience of working as a specialist nurse and ward sister on a ward that deals with a high number of people with limb loss. Karen went the extra mile for the two founders and attended and supported them at the Global Challenge Competition.
Raluca and Pedro met Andrew through his work and dedication of helping other people with limb loss better understand this life-changing event. Andrew was inspired by the founders' dedication and drive by providing them support the in the Global Challenge Competition. To date, Andrew contributes to the content on this website as his experience and knowledge of living with limb loss is invaluable.
"Do it" Award
Stumped! received further funding to implement a product based on the work done utilising 'Try It' award. Mentoring from OBSEA as well as Grant Thornton is ongoing.
Misbah decided to join the team Stumped! right after the Global Challenge to contribute not only with the IT skills, but also with her vision, great communication skills and incredible passion. This was a fantastic addition to Stumped!
Raluca secured a place in the programme run by the Council Of Deans Of Health as one of the few students selected from the UK, across various healthcare disciplines. Raluca's leadership potential was observed and through this four months programme she was mentored to further develop her leadership skills.
Through Student Leadership Programme, Steve was introduced as a mentor to Raluca. She, together with Pedro started working with Steve as part the the Student Leadership Programme. During the oficial programme, Steve has guided the founders through the needs of people with limb loss, as a limb loss and patient representative himself. Steve has also introduced and facilitated incredible working partnerships for Stumped!. After various meetings, Raluca and Pedro succeeded to establish working relationships with important stakeholders across the amputee area, such as: King's College Hospital, Guy's and St Thomas' Hospital, Oxford University Hospitals, Health Education England and others. It is safe to say that Steve has been and continue to be an important part of this project.
Stumped! were invited to present at the 2017 launch of the Oxford Brookes Social Entrepreneurship Awards as a student representative guest alongside Richard Frost (Founder of Motivation / Resonance).
Stumped! were invited to take part and contribute to the yearly Conference organised by Kings College Hospital where the work of the team was promoted as "Innovation from the nations / England". This facilitated new partnership revenues with experts in the field.
Raluca and Pedro were nominated for the Student Nursing Times Awards under the 'Student Innovation in Practice'. Raluca and Pedro were supported by several people they have worked alongside transforming this idea to the current website through written testimonials, such as: Liz Westcott (Head of Nursing Department at Oxford Brookes University), Christian Pankhurst (Clinical Specialist Orthotist at Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust and King's College Hospital Foundation Trust), Jeffrey Willmore (Consultant for Social Entrepreneurship Oxford Brookes University), Tim Foster (former Olympic rower and coach, company owner and consultant at Oxford Brookes University) and Samia Kamal (Subject Coordinator for MSc. programmes in Computing, Computer Science, eBusiness, and Software Engineering) to name just a few.