Jillian Elwart, a prosthetist at Shriners Children’s Shreveport, will be competing in this year’s 2024 Paralympics in Paris in August and September.
The amputee athlete is competing in the paracanoe/kayak sprint, a fast-paced head-to-head race which requires tremendous strength and technique, in hopes of bringing home a gold medal for the United States.
Born with proximal femoral focal deficiency, Elwart is an above-the-knee amputee and received treatment from Shriners Children’s from the time she was 3 years old until she was an adult. However, her journey with Shriners Children’s didn’t end there. After going through school, residency and board exams, Elwart became a certified prosthetist at Shriners Children’s Shreveport, the very same facility where she received treatment growing up.
“It is nice to be able to serve the population that allowed me to have the childhood that I had,” Elwart said. “Being a prosthetist at Shriners Children’s is very rewarding because I’m getting to create devices that help kids do the things they love. At first, I don’t tell the children I’m treating that I also have a prosthesis. I let them figure it out. When they do realize it, they look at their parents and you see the realization on their face as they say, ‘She has a prosthesis, too.’ I want them to know that anything is possible.”
I hope I’m a role model for the kids I serve. I want them to know regardless of physical differences you can do what you set your mind to.
Calling herself a mature athlete, Elwart did not start paracanoe and kayaking until she was well into adulthood, but quickly excelled. Elwart stepped away from the sport during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, meaning she did not participate in the 2021 Tokyo Paralympics. She’s spent the last seven years working to achieve her dream of making it to the Games.
During the week, Elwart hits the weight room at 5 a.m. daily before heading to work. Then, she lifts again in the evening. Elwart travels back home to Little Rock, Arkansas, and to Oklahoma City for her water practices on weekends. She gets on the water at 9 a.m. for an hour-and-a-half session before she trains again at night. She said seeing the support and encouragement she’s received from all of her co-workers, family and patients is what’s kept her going.
“The amount of people who believed in me and saw my potential throughout my life has been inspiring,” Elwart said. “I know I have a lot of friends and patients at Shriners Children’s who will be cheering me on this summer, and I want to make them proud. I hope I’m a role model for the kids I serve. I want them to know regardless of physical differences you can do what you set your mind to.”
Elwart, seen here as a young child, was born with proximal femoral focal deficiency and was a Shriners Children's patient from age 3.
Jillian and a patient hold a book together during a therapy session. As a prosthetist and an athlete, Elwart wants to show her patients that there are no limits.
Jillian carries her kayak. Elwart did not start paracanoe and kayaking until she was an adult.
