Phoenix amputee's road to recovery leads to running

TEMPE, Ariz. -- Thousands of runners will converge on Tempe this weekend for the 10th annual P.F. Chang's Rock 'n' Roll Marathon and Half Marathon. One woman may be an inspiration to others as she runs the half-marathon -- double-below knee amputee Jami Goldman-Marseilles. The 43-year-old Paralympian, who grew up in the Valley, survived a blizzard 25 years ago at the cost of her feet. "I was driving home to Phoenix from New Mexico, and wound up taking a wrong turn and getting lost," she said. "My girlfriend Lisa (Barzano) and I lived in our car for 11 days." The pair were near the Sunrise ski resort in the White Mountains in late December 1987. The road was supposed to be closed for the winter, but Goldman-Marseilles said it was open when she started driving on it. Because the road was closed, neither family nor police searched there. The young women drank melted snow to stay alive while their extremities were being devastated by frostbite. The two were rescued Jan. 2, 1988, found by a man and his son on a snowmobile. Barzano lost several toes to gangrene. For Goldman-Marseilles, the news would be worse. "After about two weeks, doctors started talking about amputation (of her feet)," she said. Shortly after surgery, Goldman-Marseilles said doctors told her it was important that she get some exercise. She worked hard, and later was inspired by the 1996 Paralympics. "I saw video of these incredible athletes running on these crazy looking (prosthetic) legs called the 'Cheetah Legs.' " Those artificial legs are designed to help amputees with sprinting. Goldman-Marseilles wears a version geared more for long-distance running. The married mother of two, who lives in Southern California, has traveled all over the world telling her story. She has run in three half-marathons. Goldman-Marseilles is not the only physically challenged person who will be running this weekend. "The people who will go the fastest on Sunday will be in wheelchairs out front," said race co-founder Tracy Sundlin. "They are 13 men, that if they have a bad day, will do the race in about 1 hour, 45 minutes. They'll go 4 minutes a mile for 26.2 miles." Like those men, Goldman-Marseilles, refuses to let her physical challenges hold her back. "I've learned over the past 25 years that we need to look at challenges and limitations as blessings," Goldman-Marseilles said. "They can be used to inspire our imaginations and push our body to amazing opportunity." She believes that everyone faces challenges and limitations in life, and offers this suggestion: "Use that adversity that you were given … and run with it." That's what she'll be doing on Sunday.

Bionic Men

The iWalk BiOM prosthetic ankle enables amputees to walk naturally and effortlessly. Photos courtesy of iWalk ENG alums help advance lifelike prosthetic leg A breakthrough robotics technology is enabling a growing number of amputees to walk naturally and effortlessly. In recent years, carbon fiber technology has made possible the production of lighter, stronger artificial limbs that provide increased mobility to injured soldiers, people with diabetes, and others with missing or impaired lower limbs. But moving about with a carbon fiber prosthetic can be like walking in sand: putting one foot in front of the other takes up to 50 percent more energy than that expended by people with natural limbs. That’s where a new prosthetic ankle, the BiOM by iWalk, Inc., commercially available since September 2011, comes in. Supplying that extra energy through batteries, motors, and springs, the 4.5-pound BiOM replicates the action of the foot, Achilles tendon, and calf muscles to provide powered plantar flexion, or push-off. Among the 60 iWalk employees who are shaping the future of bionic technology at the Bedford, Mass.–based start-up are three College of Engineering mechanical engineering alumni—Weston Smith (ENG’11), Josh Prescott (ENG’11), and Chris Park (ENG’11). They are part of iWalk’s effort to rebuild and restore natural motion from the ground up to potentially millions of affected individuals. Witnessing the transfer of iWalk’s technology to veterans and active-duty soldiers has been the greatest on-the-job reward, says Smith, who started working for the company as a quality engineer in October 2010. “It was neat to send our first commercial shipment of prosthetic ankles to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center and be there to see people walk on them for the first time,” he says. Now working as a manufacturing engineer, Smith’s job is to improve the manufacturing process and incorporate design improvements into iWalk’s production line. It’s the job he set his sights on in 2009, when he was a lab technician without engineering credentials at a medical device company. With an undergraduate degree in visual arts and experience as a cabinetmaker and carpenter, he enrolled in ENG’s Late Entry Accelerated Program (LEAP), which permits nontraditional students and working professionals to obtain a graduate degree in engineering, as the ticket to his dream job. “I couldn’t find anything else like it in the country,” Smith recalls. “Having the chance to study engineering after having been on a different path helped me to be really flexible, which is what’s required here. It’s a small enough place that we all do a little bit of everything beyond our core engineering tasks, from writing marketing materials to delivering the product to customers.” Click here for more of the story

Amputee to climb stairs of Chicago skyscraper using thought-controlled bionic leg

By Associated Press, Published: October 31 CHICAGO — Zac Vawter considers himself a test pilot. After losing his right leg in a motorcycle accident, the 31-year-old software engineer signed up to become a research subject, helping to test a trailblazing prosthetic leg that’s controlled by his thoughts. He will put this groundbreaking bionic leg to the ultimate test Sunday when he attempts to climb 103 flights of stairs to the top of Chicago’s Willis Tower, one of the world’s tallest skyscrapers. If all goes well, he’ll make history with the bionic leg’s public debut. His whirring, robotic leg will respond to electrical impulses from muscles in his hamstring. Vawter will think, “Climb stairs,” and the motors, belts and chains in his leg will synchronize the movements of its ankle and knee. Vawter hopes to make it to the top in an hour, longer than it would’ve taken before his amputation, less time than it would take with his normal prosthetic leg — or, as he calls it, his “dumb” leg. A team of researchers will be cheering him on and noting the smart leg’s performance. When Vawter goes home to Yelm, Wash., where he lives with his wife and two children, the experimental leg will stay behind in Chicago. Researchers will continue to refine its steering. Taking it to the market is still years away. “Somewhere down the road, it will benefit me and I hope it will benefit a lot of other people as well,” Vawter said about the research at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago. Bionic — or thought-controlled — prosthetic arms have been available for a few years, thanks to pioneering work done at the Rehabilitation Institute. With leg amputees outnumbering people who’ve lost arms and hands, the Chicago researchers are focusing more on lower limbs. Safety is important. If a bionic hand fails, a person drops a glass of water. If a bionic leg fails, a person falls down stairs. The Willis Tower climb will be the bionic leg’s first test in the public eye, said lead researcher Levi Hargrove of the institute’s Center for Bionic Medicine. The climb, called “SkyRise Chicago,” is a fundraiser for the institute with about 2,700 people climbing. This is the first time the climb has played a role in the facility’s research. To prepare, Vawter and the scientists have spent hours adjusting the leg’s movements. On one recent day, 11 electrodes placed on the skin of Vawter’s thigh fed data to the bionic leg’s microcomputer. The researchers turned over the “steering” to Vawter. He kicked a soccer ball, walked around the room and climbed stairs. The researchers beamed. Vawter likes the bionic leg. Compared to his regular prosthetic, it’s more responsive and more fluid. As an engineer, he enjoys learning how the leg works. It started with surgery in 2009. When Vawter’s leg was amputated, a surgeon repositioned the residual spaghetti-like nerves that normally would carry signals to the lower leg and sewed them to new spots on his hamstring. That would allow Vawter one day to be able to use a bionic leg, even though the technology was years away. Continue with story by Clicking Here

Paralympic star Whitehead set for marathon across UK

October 30 - Britain's double leg-amputee athlete Richard Whitehead, who took gold in the 200 metre T42 final at the London 2012 Paralympics, plans to run from John O'Groats to Land's End to raise money for cancer charities. The 36-year-old from Nottingham shot to prominence when he claimed a memorable victory in the 200m in the Olympic Stadium in a world record of 24.38sec, adding the Paralympic title to the world title he won last year. But despite his stellar late career as a sprinter, Whitehead is actually predominantly a marathon runner with a best time of 2 hours 42min 52sec over 26.2 miles. He is now aiming to become the first double leg amputee to run from John O'Groats to Land's End not only raise thousands of pounds for cancer charities in memory of his friend, Simon Mellows, who died in 2005 after contracting a secondary cancer, but also to inspire people to take up sport. "I'm a marathon runner by trade and the marathon, as an event, is accessible for anybody to watch," Whitehead told BBC Sport. "It's on an open road and you can just come down and be part of it, so I felt a challenge like John O'Groats to Land's End would engage people up and down the country about what sport's all about, and maybe be an opportunity for them to run a little bit with me. "It's great being on television and in the media but meeting people is something you can't put a value on and that's when you can have that inspiration and positive impact on people's lives."

Richard Whitehead may be a Paralympic gold medal winning sprinter but considers himself to be predominantly a marathon runner The move comes after Whitehead's phenomenal transformation from a marathon runner to a sprinter, which came about after the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) said he could not race against arm amputees at the London 2012 Paralympics. After losing his appeal against the decision with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), Whitehead adapted his training to benefit his sprinting and gained 17 kilograms of muscle. But despite become the dominant force in the 200m T42, he admits he is still hopeful of competing in the marathon at the Rio Paralympics in 2016. "They [the IPC] are starting to put things into place," he said. "For me, it's been a long time coming. "They should look back at that ruling as a missed opportunity for them. "Sport, in some cases, is too political and they were trying to streamline athletics. "Sport is inclusive, not exclusive. "To run the marathon and 200m would be a one-off and reinforce my values that sport is not all about medals. "I'm obviously a strong athlete over 200m and I would like to retain my title in Rio. "The marathon, however, for me, is about opening up people's perceptions about what a person without any legs can actually do, and also overcoming obstacles and opening up opportunities for others. "It's not about being really successful in sport, it's about leaving that legacy." Contact the writer of this story at tom.degun@insidethegames.biz

Wounded Marines Start 'Amputee Outdoors' to Support Their Own

"We remind one another that life isn't over; life is just a little different now and nothing's impossible. You can still do it. You just have to find a new way." By Stephanie Gross Email the author October 15, 2012

Marines Michael Boucher (R) and Tony Mullis (L) are two of the three founders of Amputee Outdoors. Credit Stephanie Gross Best friends and fellow Marines Michael Boucher, Tony Mullis and Zachary Stinson have always had a passion for the outdoors. And the fact that all three are double amputees isn't stopping them from hunting or fishing. It's what brought them together at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center and what led them to form an organization to help other wounded warriors live normal lives. Boucher, a Bogart resident, was injured in June 2011 while deployed in Afghanistan. During his recovery, he and the other co-founders of "Amputee Outdoors," had the opportunity to go on outdoor excursions and discover they still can live very fulfilled lives.

Marines Michael Boucher (L) and Tony Mullis (R) show off their new Tank Chair. Credit Stephanie Gross "We loved hunting and fishing prior to injury and we decided we didn't want to let our injuries stop us from being able to get out around the water to fish and hunt and just be active like before we were hurt," he said. So, the three Marines, ages 22-23, began brainstorming ways to give other wounded warriors the chance to explore the outdoors. "We remind one another that life isn't over; life is just a little different now and nothing's impossible. You can still do it. You just have to find a new way,"" he explained. Last week, a Tank Chair was donated to Amputee Outdoors, a gift made possible by the Semper Fi Fund. The chair, and others like it, will enable the organization to take wounded warriors out of the hospitals and into nature. Boucher, who has used a Tank Chair on multiple occasions described it as "amazing." "[Tank Chairs] cruise over rocks, upstairs, downstairs, through water, sand or mud," he said. "There's not really a whole lot that they can't go through." While Amputee Outdoors will give wounded warriors "a better and more normal life, knowing they have No Limits," Boucher says the organization will also serve to educate the public. "Just because we look a whole lot different and we have parts that aren't so real, we're no different," he said. "We still wake up every morning and have the desire to do the things we do just like a full able-bodied person." Amputee Outdoors is currently working on pitching a television series so that more people will learn about its mission. The organization is also in the process of acquiring status as a 501(c)(3) non-profit. Anyone interested in learning about ways to help is asked to use this contact form. You might also be interested in viewing: 20,000 Cheer While Marine Michael Boucher Honored at Braves Game Video: Wounded Marine Thanks Community for Support Video: A Hero Comes Home for the Holidays Don’t miss any Oconee news. Subscribe to Oconee Patch’s free newsletter, like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. Related Topics: Amputee Outdoors, Greatest Person, Marines, Michael Boucher, Tank Chair, Tony Mullis, Zachary Stinson, and semper fi fund

The Tube accident victim who GREW leg bone two inches so doctors can finally fit bionic limb after 15 years in world-first op

By Richard Shears and Julian Gavaghan

Last updated at 1:24 PM on 13th February 2012

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Marny Cringle couldn't have leg fitted before because stump was too short
Left leg amputated above the knee after falling under an Underground train

A woman who lost a leg when she fell under a London underground train is to receive a bionic limb in a remarkable world-first operation after successfully growing bone.
Marny Cringle 42, of New South Wales, Australia, lost her left leg in the accident in 1996 but because the remaining stump was too short she could not be fitted with a prosthetic one.
She faced the rest of her life on crutches or in a wheelchair -

Help: Marny Cringle, 42, poses on crutches - but in a few months time she will have a bionic limb after doctors were able to grow as before the stump had been too short
The painful procedure works by attaching tiny screws and periodically adjusting them to encourage the bone to stretch and grow by just a fraction of an inch at a time.

More...Twin brothers' devastation after both go blind within WEEKS due to rare genetic condition

Now surgeons want to fit a bionic limb to her femur, allowing muscle and bone to grow around it.
The artificial limb will become an extension of her body - the first time someone will have had a bone stump lengthened and a bionic limb fitted to it.

BRIGHTER FUTURE FOR THOUSANDS
Until now, many of those who had their legs amputated above the knee could not be fitted with a prosthetic limb because the remaining bone stump was too short.
But thanks to Marny Cringle - who grew her femur two inches through a painful process of having screws fitted and then gradually adjusting them to lengthen the bone - thousands more amputees could now one day walk again.
When she undergoes an operation in April at Macquarie University Hospital (pictured above) in Sydney, Australia, the 42-year-old will be the first person in the world to have a bionic limb fitted after growing bone.
Recent advancements in bionic limbs mean Miss Cringle - and many others like her - could live a relatively normal life with almost complete mobility.

Bone and muscle will grow around the artificial leg, which is powered by batteries and can detect small changes in movement and direction using motion and speed sensors.
Also, Using hydraulics, valves close and lock the knee in place when standing upright.

And, despite being fitted with hi-tech gadgets and lithium batteries, bionic legs, which cost around £50,000, can weigh as little as 2.9lb.
Orthopaedic surgeon Dr Munjed Al Muderis, who will head the operation to fit the artificial limb, told Sydney's Daily Telegraph that the procedure was 'the future for amputee patients worldwide.'

Thanks to modern surgery and her agreement to put up with painful procedure, Miss Cringle hopes to have the bionic leg attached to her leg stump as soon as April - and then surgeons and scientists will monitor it as tissue grows around the top of it.
'Just to be able to walk with two hands free is something I'm really looking forward to,' she told the paper at her home in Bolwarra, north of Sydney.
'And to be able to cuddle someone without having to have crutches hanging off me - it's those minor things.'

A former Australian wheelchair tennis champion, Miss Cringle added: 'I've beaten the odds with growing the bone as much as it has and so I know it is going to happen now. I've come too far for it not to.'

Miss Cringle was following her dream of overseas travel and working in London when she was hit by the train, her injuries so severe that she was not expected to live.
She had suffered severe head injuries, broken ribs and spinal discs and pierced lungs - in addition to losing her leg which was amputated above the knee when she was rushed to St Thomas' Hospital, London.

An accomplished violin player, she said that music had helped her with her recovery.
In an interview with the Catholic newspaper Aurora five years ago, Miss Cringle said that people had often doubted her capabilities 'but just because my circumstances have changed it doesn't mean I have changed.'

She believed the reason she was still alive was to allow her to continue achieving.
'There must be a good purpose to be here, something left for me to still do. I just haven't found it yet.'

Now she and surgeons hope that she and her new limb will give hope to many others who have suffered similar injuries.
The new generation of bionic limbs are an enormous improvement on old prosthetic ones.
The combination of motion and speed sensors and advanced computing mean they can detect small changes in movement and direction.
Also, Using hydraulics, valves close and lock the knee in place when standing upright.
And despite being fitted with hi-tech gadgets and lithium batteries bionic legs, which cost around £50,000, can weigh as little as 2.9lb.

"The Harder the Goal, the Greater the Glory"

It's the beginning of January, and for runners it means one thing: time for the kickoff to train for the Cellcom Green Bay Marathon.

If you're thinking it's too cold or you can't go the distance, the guest speaker for the marathon kick-off party Wednesday night is a living example that there are no excuses.

For Sarah Reinertsen, it's never too cold or too windy or too late.

Not having a leg? That's no excuse for her, either.

"I'm on the course, I think often times people see me come by, see my prosthetic leg, and there's this sort of flash and glimmer and it's like, 'Wow, if she's out there suffering on that thing, I'm going to make it today, too.'"

She explains, "I lost my leg when I was seven years old. I had tissue disease as a child so they amputated above the knee when I was just a kid."

For the first eleven years of her life, Reinertsen didn't run because she thought she couldn't.

Then she met a woman running with a prosthetic leg, and her world changed.

"That really changed for me, having a role model and opening up the possibility," she said.

She went from learning to walk with a wooden foot to running with a carbon fiber leg designed to replicate the fastest animal on land.

"The engineer, designer was looking at videos of the cheetah and looked at the kickback of the hind leg, and that was his inspiration to make a better prosthetic running foot for a human."

It unleashed her inner runner.

At 13, she broke the 100-meter world record for female above-the-knee amputees.

She ran the Great Wall Marathon in China.

And in 2005, she became the first woman with a prosthetic leg to finish the Ironman World Championships. It took her 15 hours to swim 2.4 miles, bike 112, and run another 26.2.

"The harder the goal, the greater the glory," Reinertsen says. "Certainly the feeling of crossing the finish line was a feeling I'll never get back -- unless I do it again."

Those accomplishments now make her a role model for others.

"One of the things that I love is that every weekend in almost every state in this country, you can sign up for a race, you can be a weekend warrior, you can feel like a kid again, get out there and get active."

Violinist Sophia Hummell keeps a steady hand

Make a list of the requirements for playing the violin, and the first few items are pretty obvious. Love of music, a good ear, dedication - check, check, check.

What about two good arms? Now that's where you want to be careful about jumping to conclusions.

Sophia Hummell confounds any glib assumptions about what is and isn't possible on the musical front. The spirited 18-year-old San Francisco native was born without a full right arm, but she's been playing the violin since the fourth grade.

She makes it look easy, too. The key is a specially designed prosthetic - what Hummell calls her "violin arm" - that attaches to the short stub of her arm with a suction device, while a mechanical grip on the other end is attached to the bow.

The result is an apparatus that has allowed Hummell to keep pace with her fiddling peers. She plays in string quartets and in the chamber orchestra of the Villa Sinfonia Foundation, a nonprofit run by violinists Lynn and Roy Oakley. With the orchestra, she's performed at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., and played the national anthem for a Giants game, and just last month she was the soloist in one movement of a Vivaldi concerto at the orchestra's annual concert.

To spend any time with Hummell is to encounter a young woman who seems to simply breeze past whatever obstacles life may throw her way. Though she has a variety of prosthetic arms for different activities, she says she feels most at home without any of them - using one hand, along with the occasional teeth and toes, to negotiate the world.
Click here for more of the story

Double amputee battles triathlon and wins silver

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By Ian Williams, NBC News Correspondent

BEIJING – The first time I met Andre Kajlich he was dodging Beijing traffic – in a racing wheelchair.

"Oh yeah, it was good out there," he told me, a huge smile on his face. "You should have seen the look I got from the bus driver."

Kajlich had traveled from his Seattle home to the Chinese capital to take part in the world championship of one of the world's most demanding sports – the paratriathlon. And taking his wheelchair for a spin on the highway was just one of his ways of tuning up.

Kajlich is a double amputee. When he lost his legs in a subway accident eight years ago, doctors doubted he would ever walk again – even with prosthetics. But he was determined to prove them wrong.

"No matter what, I was going to do everything I could do," he said. And entering the grueling world of the triathlon is just his latest challenge, winning a place in the Beijing contest after just one year in the sport.

"It gives you perspective on what you are capable of, really of what everybody's capable of," he told me. "You can choose what you want to do, and once you make up your mind you are going to get there no matter what it takes."



Inspiring others
It's an inspirational message he's been taking to other young American amputees. He and his sister Bianca, an actress, are counselors at the annual Paddy Rosebach youth camp, a summer gathering for 10- to 17-year-old amputees, which was held this year in Clarksville, Ohio.

"I try to get them to look at their goals and to focus on those and to make up their minds, make the same choices I did, that you are going to get there no matter what, and try to put the other stuff aside."

And he told me that he in turn had found the young amputees a huge inspiration as he prepared for Beijing.

The triathlon took place around (and in) the Ming Tombs Reservoir at the foot of the mountains that rise to the north of Beijing. It had been the triathlon venue during the 2008 Olympics.

For more of the story Click here

TEDxOrangeCoast - Amy Purdy - Living Beyond Limits

Here is a patient of ours Amy Purdy, who speaks on using life boundries as a springboard to enhancing life for yourself and others. That limitations are only limited by your imagination. Watch and gain inspiration from someone who lives, breathes and leads by example.

Bernabe Duran

Our World: 'Pushed to the brink of what our bodies can be pushed to'

Photo by TRISTAN SPINSKI // Buy this photo

It's a chilly Friday night in Bonita Springs. The bleachers overflow with fans as the stadium lights kick on and eleven softball players jog into right field to warm up. These men have been through hell. They've braved bombs and bullets and shrapnel and rockets and fire. And now they are on a mission: to show that life goes on after war. Outfielder Daniel "Doc" Jacobs, pictured above, 26, flops onto his back to stretch. Jacobs, a U.S. Marine who lives in San Diego, lost his left leg below the knee after being struck by an Improved Explosive Device (IED) during a routine patrol in the Sunni Triangle in Iraq in February of 2006.

It’s a chilly Friday night in Bonita Springs. The bleachers overflow with fans as the stadium lights kick on and eleven softball players jog into right field to warm up. These men have been through hell. They’ve braved bombs and bullets and shrapnel and rockets and fire. And now they are on a mission: to show that life goes on after war.

Outfielder Daniel “Doc” Jacobs, pictured above, 26, flops onto his back to stretch. Jacobs, a U.S. Marine who lives in San Diego, lost his left leg below the knee after being struck by an Improved Explosive Device (IED) during a routine patrol in the Sunni Triangle in Iraq in February of 2006.

After two years in rehab, Jacobs has returned to full duty. Part of his job includes traveling around the country with the Wounded Warrior Amputee Softball Team, a collection of U.S. Army and Marine Corps veterans who have lost limbs post 9/11 while serving their country. The team averages two games a month against police departments and fire departments across the United States. On this night they play the Bonita Springs Fire Department.

Every member of the team has a story. Second baseman Tim Horton, 27, of San Antonio, served two years and eight months with the U.S. Marine Corps, with a full year of that service spent in the hospital after and IED struck his humvee, spraying his body with shrapnel, breaking his wrist, both elbows and taking his left leg below the knee. Horton said after 50 surgeries, he’s stopped counting. What he and his teammates can count on is his athletic ability, which he demonstrated by back-pedaling into center field and a diving catch to end the first inning.

Head Coach David Van Sleet also works for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, specializing in prosthetics. Van Sleet says he put the Wounded Warrior Amputee Softball Team together last spring after marveling at the scope of athletic talent returning from Iraq and Afghanistan with severe injuries.

“After they were injured, they didn’t know if they were going to live,” Van Sleet said. “They didn’t know if they were going to walk again. They didn’t know if they were going to play sports again.”

After much brainstorming, Van Sleet put a national call out to VA hospitals, military bases and other organizations that might point him towards the best veteran amputee athletic talent in the country. Hundreds answered the call. Twenty made the cut.

One of the chosen few was Sgt. Randall Rugg, a 34-year-old native of Monroe, La. who now plays catcher. Rugg served with the U.S. Marine Corps from 1999 to January of 2004. His unit was ambushed on March 22, 2003 in Iraq. Rugg survived five rocket-propelled grenades hitting his vehicle. Like so many of his teammates, he lost his left leg below the knee.

Rugg says his transition to civilian life was difficult. There was no camaraderie. The two jobs he landed upon returning were fraught with office backstabbing. It was every man for himself, Rugg said. So when a representative from his VA called him, asking if he would be interested in playing softball with fellow amputees, Rugg jumped.

“Hell yeah. I’ll be there,” Rugg said.

“It’s therapeutic,” Rugg says. “It’s like being with family. It’s like going home to see mom and dad for the holidays and being around people that love and accept you. It’s the same thing with this.”

“We’ve been pushed to the brink of what our bodies can be pushed to,” he said. “Sometimes my leg - it’s sweaty. It hurts. But the job’s not done. I push it to the end.”

The Wounded Warrior Amputee Softball Team is a nonprofit organization that depends on charitable donations to continue their outreach and advocacy across the United States. If you are interested in learning more or donating to the Wounded Warrior Amputee Softball Team, visit their website: www.woundedwarrioramputeesoftballteam.org, or call: (703) 549-2288.

Teen's goal: Eliminate phantom pain in amputees

Thursday - 11/10/2011, 1:50pm ET

Katherine Bomkamp is seen with her invention, which is designed to eliminate phantom pain felt by amputees (Photo Courtesy of Intel )Darci Marchese, wtop.com


WASHINGTON -- Katherine Bomkamp was struck by what she saw the first time she visited Walter Reed Army Medical Center with her father, a member of the U.S. Air Force.

"Sitting in waiting rooms were all these very young amputees returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. That really got to me. They were 18,19 years old, young kids," she says.

The Waldorf teen, 16 at the time, says she talked to the men and women who had lost their limbs at war about phantom pain -- the pain an amputee feels in the limb that's no longer there. The pain, she says, is "caused by the brain that automatically sends signals to a limb to move. The signals get caught in the severed nerve endings, causing pain."

About the same time as her visits to the hospital, Bomkamp's tenth grade science teacher encouraged the North Point High School students to complete a project that could have an impact.

Bomkamp decided to study phantom pain, hoping to find a way to prevent it without the use of drugs. Over time, she invented a holistic prosthetic device she now calls the "pain free socket," a device that uses heat to force the brain to focus on high temperatures produced through thermal-bio feedback, rather than send signals to the nonexistent limb.

The invention won her several awards at local and national science fairs. But she didn't stop there.

Now a 19-year-old sophomore at West Virginia University, Bomkamp is working to have her device commercialized. She's received one patent for the "pain free socket" and says a major prosthetic company has expressed interest in it. She's even created her own company.

She credits the university for helping her develop the device and to raise funding for it.

"Before I came to WVU, this was a project. But now it's become a viable product that could go on the market," she says.

"It's come a long way from when I was 16."

Bomkamp is excited to give back to wounded warriors. She says the device will be tested on amputees and she hopes it will be on the market in just a couple of years.

Because of her accomplishments, she becomes the first West Virginia University student to be inducted into the National Museum of Education's National Gallery for America's Young Inventors. And last week, she was named one of Glamour Magazine's "21 Amazing Young Women." The distinction was given to young women across the country for changing the world through service and innovation.

Finding her stride

Josh Radtke | The State News
Kinesiology senior McKayla Hanson waits for her brother Jacob, 13, to bring up the other handcycle into the driveway after the two finished an afternoon ride. Due to her high amputation, Hanson rides the special type of bike during the running and bicycle portions of the triathlon. She travels to California this week to compete in a half Ironman Triathlon, a stepping stone to the Paralympic games, where she is determined to one day be a competitor.

After her right leg was amputated at age 7, McKayla Hanson gave up on rollerblading, biking and her chances at a normal life.

In elementary school, Hanson, who is now a kinesiology senior at MSU, purposely broke her prosthetic leg to get out of wearing it to class.

Years later, Hanson is walking, biking and rock-climbing.

She’s been training for months to participate in the 2011 San Diego Triathlon Challenge on Sunday and today, she’s leaving for California.

“I hate the fact that most people I see that are physically disabled are either overweight or obese,” Hanson said. “Just because you have a disability doesn’t mean you should eat McDonald’s every day or sit on your butt because your back or leg hurts — you can’t let that get to you.”

“It’s huge for somebody that’s injured,” Long said. “It’s not only getting out; it’s realizing that you can do active activities.”

A step behind
Hanson’s parents put her into foster care along with her sister to give them a chance at a better life.

When Hanson was living with her first foster care family, she began feeling pain in her right leg.

She cried from the pain, but her foster parents told her it was growing pains. A tumor was visible on her leg.

In the Hanson house, where she went next in foster care, that kind of neglect didn’t last.

Her new foster parents, who later adopted her, told her she had a rare form of bone cancer — rhabdomyosarcoma.

From the hip socket and pelvic bone down, Hanson’s right leg had to be amputated.

“I was more happy than scared because of the pain I felt,” Hanson said.

Doctors said she’d never walk again, but her family pushed her to overcome her disability.

“She didn’t have a disability when she was here; she was one of the kids,” McKayla’s mother, Elisa Hanson said. “When it was her time to clean, (she cleaned).”

McKayla Hanson’s mother was by her side the first time she rode a bicycle after cancer claimed her right leg, and now as she’s training for the triathlon this weekend.

“They said, ‘You can either lay in bed and feel sorry for yourself … or you can get up and do something,’” McKayla Hanson said.

“My physical disability has never stopped me since they told me that.”

Leaps and bounds
Although her right leg was gone, McKayla Hanson had the heart of an athlete growing up.

She began swimming in middle school, then began rock climbing and handcycling.

Her athletic career was jump-started when she got a new prosthetic leg from the Challenged Athletes Foundation, an organization that helps raise money for disabled athletes.

“We think it’s something that helps make someone’s life whole and more meaningful,” said Travis Ricks, programs coordinator and athlete relations at the Challenged Athletes Foundation.

“We want them to not feel like there’s something missing in their life.”

With a new leg and ambitions to participate in triathlons, McKayla Hanson began working with a coach on the handcycle — an arm-operated bicycle.

Ray Bailey, a member of the Tri-County Bicycle Association. never taught someone with a disability before and never used a handcycle.

It’s been a learning experience for both of them, but since they started working together, she’s gone from about 9 mph to about 14 mph average on her handcycle — enough to be competition at the triathlon next Sunday, Bailey said.

“I’ve pushed her a little bit, only to the point I can see it on her face,” he said.

McKayla Hanson also rides with the Tri-County Bicycle Association and the Fusion Cycling Team.
To members, it’s more than a way to exercise.

“If we see people are struggling in the cycling community, we kind of like to help,” Bailey said.

Long, who also leads the Fusion Cycling Team, met McKayla Hanson at a race about a year ago.

Getting to know her and other disabled athletes provides support and hope for him.

“You’re learning from someone that’s gone through the same road as you,” Long said.

“You can talk to a lot of people, friends and family, that haven’t gone through a disability, but they can’t really understand unless they’ve gone through it.”

At MSU, McKayla’s studying to become a physical therapist — to give back to the disabled community, as she was helped by others.

“I really would like to work with the disabled community in any way that I can,” she said.

“Whether it be to incorporate more physical fitness for them, start my own organization or anything along those lines, but I really want to work … for those who are physically challenged.”

McKayla Hanson’s training won’t be over when she finishes the triathlon in San Diego.

After that, her training for the 2014 Paralympics begins.

“She’ll take something competitive, not necessarily just a marathon, but get ready for the triathlon and take it to the extreme limit,” Long said.

“She’s a true athlete.”

Biotech start-up builds artful artificial limbs

Bespoke Innovations has gone out on a limb by building a new business around a bold idea – that prosthetic legs can communicate a message of personal style more than disability.

In a packed lecture hall at Stanford last week, Scott Summit, Bespoke’s chief technology officer and a Stanford engineering lecturer, told those of us in the audience about his start-up company’s vision — to bring humanity and self-esteem back to people who have suffered traumatic limb loss.

Using a 3D scanner, technicians create a digital image of an amputee’s surviving limb and create a mirror image of that morphology using parametric computer modeling. They feed this data into a laser-powered 3D printer that fabricates a custom superstructure, which can then be adorned with fashion-oriented materials like wood, metal, cloth, and leather. “We can create a personalized limb in 30 hours for about $4,000,” Summit told us.

Both utilitarian and beautiful, the Bespoke staff works with people to customize the designs and materials to reflect individual personality and tastes. Some are finished with ballistic nylon or polished nickel. One was covered in quilted leather, like a Chanel handbag. For a military veteran with a love of tribal tattoos, the team scanned a favorite tattoo design from one leg and fabricated the fairing using that theme. A competitive soccer player who lost his leg to cancer chose an aircraft-like honeycomb design that allowed him to play soccer again.

Summit, who works alongside co-founder Kenneth Trauner, MD, a Bay Area orthopedic surgeon, hinted that his interdisciplinary team of designers, engineers, physicians, and entrepreneurs has other innovations under wraps that will push the boundaries of human prosthetics and be “the coolest things you’ve ever seen.”

A video of the lecture is available on Stanford University’s Entrepreneurship Corner website.

The Lone Marine holds salute to Rolling Thunder vets for over 3 hours

WASHINGTON – In a city dedicated to monumental sacrifices, there’s one that stands strong and never surrenders.

“It just gives me chills,” says Jennifer Phillips of Virginia Beach. “I can’t believe he’s out there.”


Retired Marine Staff Sgt Tim Chambers holds his salute for over 3 hours

Retired Marine Staff Sergeant Tim Chambers has stood at this post since 2002.”It’s an extremely long time to hold a salute that long,” says Air Force Master Sergeant Russ Ware of Columbia, MD. “Takes a lot determination and a lot of discipline. This guy does it every year.”

With a stiff spine and straight shoulders, this lone marine stands at attention as the Rolling Thunder rumbles by…for more than three hours.

“They zoom by me and I’m getting an eyeball at them,” says Chambers. “I’m trying to give every one of them that ‘Welcome home’ they didn’t get.”
Chamber says it started as a spontaneous ‘Thank you’ nine years ago but has now become his moral obligation.

Retired Marine Major Larry Carmon was one of thousands who came to watch Chambers. “I did 28 years in the Corps,” Carmon says. “I was a drill instructor. I’m totally impressed with this young man. Totally impressed.”

Carmon says holding a salute this long is nearly impossible for a healthy Marine. It’s unthinkable for a wounded warrior.

“He has a broken wrist? God Bless him.”

Only the slightest of a tremble gave Chambers away. A broken wrist that should have been in a cast was instead held high in a salute.

“I knew something was wrong!” Ware says. “He started to waver a little bit today. That’s dedication! That’s service before self.”

But as one hour bled into the next, the temperatures started to soar.

“If you actually watch him right now, he’s in distress,” says Dave Macedonia. The veteran says he started ferrying water and aspirin to Chambers when it became apparent the solider was in pain. “You know, veterans help each other,” Macedonia says. “If he falls down out there, we’re going to help him.”

But Diane Hoge says she knows her son would never let that happen. “He was always very determined,” Hoge says. “Everything he does, he puts 150% into it.”

She says her son got it from his grandmother Anne DeSanis. Every year, the 81 year-old quietly stands on the sidelines and refuses to sit down until her grandson finishes what he started.

“It’s real emotional,” she says. “Real emotional.”

The Lone Marine has now become a bit of a celebrity. People flock to this corner just to get a picture with of him. But rather than let it go to his head, Chamber says he hopes others will follow his example.

“I’m doing this because America needs to see this,” he says. “I want them to emulate it any which way they can across the country.”

Because, for Staff Sgt. Tim Chambers, when it comes to remembering the men who serve, you never give up. You never surrender.

Rolling Thunder is an annual motorcycle rally that is held in Washington, DC during the Memorial Day weekend to call for the government’s recognition and protection of Prisoners of War (POWs) and those Missing in Action (MIAs). About 400,000 veterans will roar across Washington, DC on their motorcycles as a tribute to American war heroes.

Virtual Reality May Help Treat Phantom Limb Pain

October 11, 2011 (Hamburg, Germany) — In the future, amputees might merely repeatedly watch a virtual version of their lost limb in motion to be rid of their phantom limb pain.

Researchers believe that virtual reality, which uses sensory illusions in real time, can reverse the remodeling processes within the brain that occur in most patients who lose a limb. The idea is to get the brain to believe that the limb is still there, so the pain-inducing conversion processes do not occur.


Institute for Applied Computer Science, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Germany

The virtual approach has several advantages over the standard mirror box approach because it uses artificially modified movements instead of merely normal mirrored ones, said Martin Diers, PhD, from the Department of Cognitive and Clinical Neuroscience, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, Germany

Dr. Diers' virtual reality study was among several presented here at Pain in Europe VII: 7th Congress of the European Federation of IASP Chapters (EFIC) that suggest it may be possible to prevent or even reverse the postamputation maladaptive cortical reorganization that causes phantom limb pain.

Mirror Box

Research has already shown that using mirrors to give patients the optical impression that their missing limb is still present can reduce phantom limb pain, and that brain activation differs between amputees with and without pain. Dr. Diers' group conducted a longitudinal study comparing brain changes before and after a classical mirror box treatment in patients with phantom pain to better understand the mechanisms of mirror treatment.

To determine whether the virtual mirror box is comparable to the mirror box in terms of brain activation, the researchers conducted a pilot study. They put 20 healthy volunteers inside a magnetic resonance imaging scanner with their left arm hidden, and fitted them with head-mounted 3-dimensional goggles. The virtual reality process transfers images of movements from 1 hand (the right hand) onto the other (hidden or amputated) hand. The viewer sees his or her body with both hands moving, but is actually moving only the right hand.

During these movements, researchers measured brain activity. They found activation in the primary sensorimotor cortex contralateral to the actual movement. In addition, they found activation in the primary sensorimotor cortex contralateral to the virtual movement.

During a second experiment, the volunteers moved their right hand in front of a mirror and could see their mirrored right hand as their left hand.

"In both of these conditions, you have movements of the right hand, but you are seeing movement of both hands," said Dr. Diers. "The difference is that one is a mirrored image and one is in virtual reality."

With the virtual reality technique, there was significantly more activation in the primary somatosensory cortex contralateral to the actual movement. "So, both conditions are quite similar in terms of brain activation, but the virtual reality mirror box has some advantages during the training from which patients could benefit," said Dr. Diers.

Additional Advantage

It also has other, technical advantages. The mirrored limb always moves opposite to the intact limb, which is unnatural, especially for the leg. The position of the arm inside a magnetic resonance imaging scanner is also unnatural, and even uncomfortable. Instead of using only responses from the opposite remaining limb, virtual reality can include the residual limb by capturing motion data directly from a patient's stump.

Dr. Diers estimated that it would take 15 minutes a day for 4 weeks to "trick" the brain into thinking the limb still exists, and for the phantom pain to subside. His research indicates that the pain is reduced for at least 2 months.

In the future, virtual reality applications will likely be used instead of the classical mirror box, but it will take some time for them to reach clinical practice, partly because of the expense, said Dr. Diers.

Up to 80% of amputees experience some phantom limb pain. Factors that influence whether a patient experiences this pain include age (those who lose a limb younger than about 7 years do not normally feel this pain), the degree of preoperative pain (less pain before the amputation normally leads to less phantom pain), and genetics. The use of a myoelectric prostheses or sensory discrimination training at the stump can also improve phantom pain.

This research is part of the European Research Council–founded PHANTOMMIND project. A second funded project that uses magnetic resonance imaging carried out by Dr. Diers and others, and presented at the meeting, showed that patients could learn to regulate their brain response.

This study included 10 healthy control patients who completed 24 neurofeedback sessions on 4 consecutive days. Their objective was to regulate activation in the posterior insula and anterior cingulated cortex either up or down in response to painful electrical stimulation.

"This method seems promising not only for phantom pain patients, but also for chronic back pain or generalized pain syndromes," Professor Herta Flor, PhD, from the Department of Cognitive and Clinical Neuroscience, University of Heidelberg, commented in a press release. "With these possibilities for targeted control of the body's own pain perception mechanisms, a whole new world opens up that could soon free us, in many areas, from dependence on analgesic medications, with all their diverse side effects and risk of complications."

Another approach being studied is the rubber hand illusion paradigm that involves replacing the missing hand with a realistic artificial limb and stroking the real and replica limb simultaneously, while the patient focuses on the rubber hand. After some seconds, most patients experience the rubber hand as his or her own hand.

Ketamine Effect?

Yet another potential treatment discussed at the pain meeting was the administration of ketamine pre- and postoperatively. Researchers at the Pain Clinic, University Hospital, Martin, Slovak Republic, carried out a blind, prospective, placebo-controlled study that included 31 patients with diabetes who were to undergo lower limb amputation.

After receiving anesthesia, 25 patients got a 0.5 mg/kg bolus of intravenous ketamine. After surgery, these participants received a 48-hour postoperative intravenous infusion of either 0.1 mg/kg/hour or 0.05 mg/kg/hour of ketamine; those who did not receive ketamine got magnesium.

Three months postsurgery, the incidence of phantom pain was 66.6% in the group who did not receive ketamine compared with 0% in the group receiving the higher postsurgery ketamine dose (P = .02) and 15.4% in the lower postsurgery ketamine dose group (P = .07).

The authors have disclosed no relevant financial relationships.

Pain in Europe VII: 7th Congress of the European Federation of IASP Chapters (EFIC): Abstracts S268, S270, and S424. Presented September 24, 2011.

'Crying ain't gonna grow anything back': Extraordinary bravery of Marine who lost three limbs in blast... and then walked down the aisle

By Daily Mail Reporter

Last updated at 7:36 AM on 11th October 2011

Comments (22) Add to My Stories Share Tyler Southern, 22, is perpetually positive.

'I'm chronically happy,' he said. 'It's kinda hard to get me off the happy horse.'

Mr Southern's optimism continues in spite of the massive injuries he received while serving as a lance corporal Marine in Afghanistan.

A triple: That's the way Tyler Southern refers to triple amputees like himself, after he lost both his legs and right arm from an IED explosion
Both of his legs and his right arm were blown off by an improvised explosive device, making Mr Southern a triple amputee.

'I didn't feel that me crying about it would help the situation at all and I know it won't. Crying ain't gonna grow anything back,' he said in an interview with The Huffington Post.

Training: Mr Southern is in physical rehabilitation at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland
He is still undergoing physical rehabilitation, and works out much of the day, though his injuries are not the only focus of his life.

In July, he married Ashley Statti, a friend from high school and the wedding was filmed by a local Jacksonville, Florida television station.


Mr Southern's injuries are not putting a stop to his military career either.

He plans to work in the public affairs office of the Marines, and will not be quitting any time soon.

'I plan on doing 16 more years,' Mr Southern said in an interview with The Huffington Post.

'I told my dad I'd do 20, I'm not going to let something like this stop me.'

For the next 18 months, however, much of his time will be spent at Walter Reed for his physical therapy. With the prosthetic legs and arm that doctors have given him, he needs to exercise his other muscles and build up strength in his torso.

'I've got the world at my prosthetic feet,' Mr Southern said.

click here to see rest of story and video

Oscar Pistorius: The bullet in the chamber

(CNN) -- He's "the fastest man on no legs," or -- as his sponsor's high-profile advertising campaign put it -- "the bullet in the chamber."

He is Oscar Pistorius, the "Blade Runner" who is changing the world's perception of what is acceptable on an athletics track.

Born without a fibula bone in each leg, the South African is the first double amputee to run at the world championships, and next year he will be the first to race at the Olympics.

"I think next year's going to be quite a big year, as far as demand on my performances," the 24-year-old told CNN.

"I feel that the condition I'm in and the knowledge I've gained probably will definitely help me in achieving those times in the first half of next season. So I know next year is going to be a big year."

Pistorius qualified for the 400 meters with a time of 45.07 seconds in Italy in July, which is less than two seconds slower than Michael Johnson's 1999 world record and would have given him fifth place in the final of the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Pistorius on Championship experience Pistorius buoyant after Daegu breakthrough

He did not compete at the main event in China. Despite eventually reversing the decision by athletics' ruling body to ban the carbon-fiber prosthetic blades he uses, the Johannesburg native was unable to meet the qualifying mark.

South Africa's 'Blade Runner' He did, however, run at the Beijing Paralympics that year, becoming the first athlete to win gold in the 100m, 200m and 400m.

The International Association of Athletics Federations had at first decreed, after a series of tests, that the blades gave Pistorius an unfair advantage.

He overturned that at the Court of Arbitration for Sport, and maintains that he will be competing on a level playing field in London next year.

"If the legs did provide such an advantage that some of the people are claiming they did, then there would be a lot more amputees using the exact same prosthetic legs I have, running the exact same times I have -- and that's not the case," Pistorius said.

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How to Exercise Sound Leg in Amputation

Overview
Exercise and keeping your body active is important even if you have endured the amputation of a limb. Amputations of a part of the leg or foot may be necessary due to peripheral vascular disease and diabetes, which hinders blood flow to the lower limbs, causing part of the tissue to die or become necrotic. Other reasons for an amputation include an accident or injury that severely damages the leg. You will require physiotherapy after your surgery to learn how to exercise the affected leg and become mobile again with the help of a prosthetic limb or wheelchair. Even if you cannot walk, it is important to exercise your sound leg to maintain healthy circulation and prevent blood clots. Your doctor will advise how soon after surgery you can begin an exercises. Once you have been given the go-ahead, try these exercises.

Range of Motion
Step 1
Lie flat on your back on an exercise mat with your arms at your sides. Keep your hands palms down on the mat for support. Use a pillow to support your amputated leg if that is more comfortable.

Step 2
Slowly lift your unaffected leg off the mat as high as possible. Keep your amputated limb motionless. Hold your leg in the air for a count of three to five, while keeping your toes pointing straight ahead and stretching your leg as much as possible.

Step 3
Move your leg in a circular motion in the air. Bring your leg back down on the mat and relax. Raise your leg again and move it from side to side five to 10 times.

Step 4
Return to the starting position and rest before repeating the entire exercise, completing 10 to 12 repetitions. This exercise helps to relieve leg cramping that may occur from sitting or being in a wheelchair for long periods of time. It also improves circulation and leg flexibility.

Muscle Tone
Step 1
Sit up straight in your wheelchair or a sturdy chair. Loop the elastic exercise band around your toe and grip the handles tightly in each hand.

Step 2
Raise your leg so that it is extended straight out in front of you. Bend your leg at the knee to bring it as close to you as possible. Pull back on the exercise band handles by bending your elbows and bringing your hands close to your chest. You may need to lean back slightly.

Step 3
Remain in this position and extend your leg out straight again. The resistance from the exercise band should make this difficult and work out the muscles in your leg. Hold this position for a count of three to five. Relax, lower your leg and continue the exercise 10 to 15 times.

Balance
Step 1
Stand up straight and hold the back of a heavy chair or a table with both hands for support. If you wear a prosthetic leg, remove it so that the weight of your body rests on your sound leg.

Step 2
Let go of the table or chair and spread your arms out to balance the weight of your body on your leg. Maintain this position for a count of 10 or more.

Step 3
Hold the table or chair again and relax before doing the exercise five to 10 more times. You can also hold a broomstick straight in front of you in both hands to help you balance.

Individuals who are wheelchair-bound due to a broken leg or ankle can also do these exercises. Have someone stand behind you, if you are afraid of standing on one foot. It is important to wear a supportive athletic shoe on your sound foot to prevent injury or strain to the ankle and knee.

Ask your physiotherapist to show you how to correctly perform each exercise to avoid injuring yourself. Ensure that the elastic exercise band is correctly held in place around your foot to make sure it doesn't recoil against you. Have someone assist you with exercises to help prevent falls and injury. If you experience pain in your amputated leg or anywhere else in your body while exercising, consult your physiotherapist before continuing.
References
"Senior Step"; Keep Moving: Exercises for People with Lower-extremity Amputations; Melissa Wolff-Burke, Ed.D., P.T., and Elizabeth Cole, P.T.; 2004
Sportsinjuryclinic.net: Resistance Band Exercises
National Center on Physical Activity and Disability; Epidemiology and Pathophysiology of Amputation; Ken Pitetti, Ph.D.

About this Author
Noreen Kassem is a hospital doctor and a medical writer. Her articles have been featured in "Women's Health," "Nutrition News," "Check Up" and "Alive Magazine." Kassem also covers travel, books, fitness, nutrition, cooking and green living.

Photo Credit: Thinkstock/Comstock/Getty Images
Article reviewed by John Hagemann | Last updated on: 09/05/11

New 'bionic' leg gives amputees a natural gait