A TRUE TEST

Thirty-two years ago on a warm spring day, 11-year-old Walt was fishing in Ogden Canyon. It had been no easy task talking his dad into taking him that day. As he crossed the two-lane bridge to meet up with his dad, who was fishing on the other side of the road, a driver in a 1968 Blue Ford Falcon momentarily lost consciousness. The car veered across the road, careened into the bridge wall and hit Walt, throwing him 75 feet. Without stopping, the driver sped down the canyon road.

Walt didn't lose consciousness, despite having one of his legs severed from the femur down and the other leg crushed. By the time an ambulance had retrieved him and his father, enormous amounts of blood had been lost. The doctors didn't expect Walt to live. "They actually waited for me to die, but when it was clear I was hanging on, they began trying to figure out how to put me back together," recalls Walt, who still chokes up at the memory. The doctors did the best they could with the knowledge they had at the time regarding amputations. "My stump was put back together with three pieces of bone and skin grafts," describes Walt. Doctors told him that he would never walk again.

Since then, Walt has gone through more than a dozen artificial legs; some so rudimentary they had hinges and an attached rubber foot. These days Walt wears the best technology available; he has recently been fitted with a vacuum assisted suction socket with urethane interface. The vacuum enhanced suspension reduces friction and sheer forces by eliminating movement. It also reduces moisture and keeps his limb a consistent size. The urethane provides a total contact environment maximizing the weight-bearing surface of his residual limb while providing cushioned comfort. "It takes a lot of pressure off of the pressure points, especially the bottom of the hip socket," explains Walt. He also tests prostheses for Otto Bock, a manufacturer of prosthetic products. Walt tests new products by wearing them for six to nine months in order to get a good feel for how it will work over the long run.

For the past year, Walt's been sporting Otto Bock's Axtion Foot, "It's a very active foot that allows you to walk faster, farther, and gives greater energy return than any other foot I've walked on," says Walt.

Walt is not easy to please. He freely admits that he is one of the hardest patients any prosthetist could work with due to the ultra-sensitivity of his residual limb, which entails layers of scar tissue and a bone spur. "SPOT's staff immediately recognized how to respond to my special needs; they realize that every amputee is unique," says Walt.

"I believe SPOT is one of the finest prosthetic companies in the Intermountain West. Over the last 30 years, I've been through most of the prosthetists here," says Walt. "The staff at SPOT has been more proactive and perceptive of the actual problems I'm dealing with than anyone else I've found."

For 12 years Walt worked as an architectural draftsman, before taking early retirement due to disability. His health, including childhood arthritis, remains one of his greatest challenges. His 23-year love for Tai Chi has helped him maintain a resilient attitude toward his health and keeps him in tune with his body. "Tai Chi is a big part of my life," says Walt. "It improves my self confidence, self awareness and balance."

The accident that nearly escorted Walt out of this world-quite literally, but that is a story for him to tell-- left him with a lasting impression. "I understand the importance of living the life you have now; there is plenty of time in the after-life, so dwell on death then, not now."

[Walt has a double wall socket with custom urethane liner and vacuum assisted suspension. He is currently being fitted with a C-leg microprocessor controlled knee and Axtion foot.]

By Peta Owens-Liston
May 2005

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