Fans of the 2011 movie "Dolphin Tale" may not know that it is based on a real-life situation, and that one of the characters the movie took some time to visit New Jersey this week.

In the movie, a bottlenose dolphin named Winter is fitted with a prosthetic tail after her tail had to be amputated. Winter is a real dolphin, and she was able to swim again thanks to help from Kevin Carroll, a certified prosthetist in West Orange.

"I was thinking to myself, we put arms and legs on people. Why not put a tail on a dolphin?" Carroll says.

Carroll helped to design the prosthetic tail for Winter, a device that saved her life. He says that "Dolphin Tale" and its sequel highlight the work he and his colleagues do with people who have lost limbs.

"We work with more complex cases and come up with solutions that allow them to be active and live active lives," Carroll says.

Carroll is spending this week at the Hanger Clinic in West Orange to help educate local patients about new technology and other options out there for them.

Ana Pereira of Eatontown has a bi-lateral amputation. She says these clinic visits offer hope.

"You know there's something better out there and new technologies out there for us amputees, so it's wonderful," Pereira says.

Winter the dolphin is still thriving at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium in Florida.