The Dolphin Whose Prosthetic Gel Now Helps Human Amputees

A rescue team pulled her from the water on December 10, 2005, off the coast of Mosquito Lagoon, Florida - a two-month-old bottlenose dolphin so tangled in a crab trap rope that she had no chance of freeing herself. By the time she reached the Clearwater Marine Aquarium, her tail was already dying.

How She Lost Her Tail

The crab trap rope had wrapped tightly around Winter's tail flukes, cutting off circulation.

The tissue died from the loss of blood flow - a process called necrosis.

Aquarium veterinarians had no choice but to remove most of her tail.

What remained was just the muscular stump at the base, called the peduncle.

Without her tail, Winter adapted by moving side-to-side through the water - more like a shark than a dolphin.

It worked for a time, but veterinarians warned this motion would eventually damage her spine if nothing changed.

Eighteen Months to Build a Tail

In 2006, Kevin Carroll, Vice President of Prosthetics at Hanger Clinic, heard about Winter and flew to Clearwater.

His team had decades of experience fitting prosthetic limbs for people - but a dolphin was an entirely different challenge.

The prosthetic had to stay in place on a wet, constantly moving animal in saltwater.

It couldn't irritate the skin.

It had to flex naturally with her movements.

And Winter herself had to be willing to wear it.

Carroll's team spent 18 months designing, testing, and rebuilding prototypes.

They eventually developed a custom silicone tail attached with a specialized gel liner.

The liner had to grip the smooth, wet skin of her peduncle without causing pressure sores or burns - which meant most of those 18 months went into getting that one piece right.

By 2007, Winter was swimming with her new tail and the dangerous side-to-side motion was gone.

The Gel That Changed Human Prosthetics

The specialized liner Carroll's team developed became known as WintersGel.

And it quickly proved useful far beyond the dolphin tank.

Carroll began applying the same material to human amputees.

WintersGel offered the same qualities that made it work for Winter - gentle adhesion, cushioning, and moisture resistance - properties that proved especially valuable for amputee athletes, whose prosthetic limbs can start to slide when they sweat.

Today, WintersGel is used by thousands of amputees worldwide.

The Clearwater Marine Aquarium credits the material with continuing to change the lives of people who rely on prosthetics every day.

Dolphin Tale and Winter's Legacy

Winter's story was adapted into the 2011 film Dolphin Tale, directed by Charles Martin Smith.

Morgan Freeman starred as a character inspired by Kevin Carroll.

Winter played herself.

The film introduced her story to a new audience and was followed by a sequel, Dolphin Tale 2, in 2014.

Winter lived at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium until November 11, 2021, when she died at the age of 16 from complications of a gastrointestinal infection.

In that time, she became one of the most visited marine animals in the United States - and the dolphin whose custom-built tail ended up changing prosthetics for thousands of people around the world.