I lost my leg in 1974 in a motorcycle accident. I had no idea of what to expect from amputation, I didn’t know any amputees. I was fortunate in that no one told me what I couldn’t do, so I did whatever I thought I could. This led to a lot of prosthetic problems over the years until I eventually decided that the only way I was going to get the right prosthesis for me was to get into the business.
In 1982 I became certified in Prosthetics after doing my training at Northwestern University in Chicago. I worked for various prosthetic facilities until finally moving to Nevada in 1989 and opening my own facility, Specialty Prosthetic Systems.
I had made a serious foray into the amputee athlete world by being an eight year member of the US Disabled Nordic Ski team and represented the US in two Olympics, one World Championship and the World Masters.
Prosthetic Needs of the amputee for a lifetime
While working in the prosthetics profession, I realized that no one had ever methodically approached the topic of projecting the Prosthetic Needs of the amputee over their lifetime. I have developed a systematic approach to projecting prosthetic needs and offer those services as part of my business.
Family
I married Jill, started a family and got serious about the business of making limbs. My little shop grew and prospered so in 2000 I received a very generous offer to sell my business to Hanger. It was truly one of those “once in a lifetime” offers but carried a five year non-compete clause. Over that five years, I wrote a book entitled, “Living with a Below Knee Amputation” and also began writing children’s adventure books.