In an odd and unique way, limb loss has led me to where I am today. When I was a child, my father was in a bad motorcycle accident. After many failed attempts to salvage his leg, they decided to amputate. I watched go through the highs and lows of accepting his new life as an amputee. His struggles encouraged me to join the field and make it my mission to serve the amputee community. I am beyond thankful to work in the prosthetic industry and for a company that strives to better the lives of those with limb loss / limb differences."

Our cat, Blue, fell down a window well one summer and we were pretty sure he broke his leg. Once at the vet, we found out that he also had hip dysplasia. After surgery, we were told there was a good chance he would experience issues later on in life. Later came rather quickly, when a year after the surgery, Blue fell down a flight of stairs and broke his leg again. The vet tried to cast him for several weeks, after which we found out his leg wasn't healing at all. We were given the option to do another expensive surgery or amputation. Definitely not an easy decision, but the vet said he would be just fine on three legs plus there would be a good chance he would continue to have issues with his leg if we did not amputate. The first few weeks after surgery were a bit rough, but Blue is now living his best life running and jumping around even better than he was before. I had just started working at Ottobock when all this happened and although Blue is a cat and does not use a prosthetic, it made me realize even more how much of an impact we have with what we do here at Ottobock!"

My life was transformed after suffering a traumatic amputation in 2008. After 20 years of reconstructive surgeries, I electively decided to have my right leg amputated below the knee. It was an incredibly difficult road to get to that point and the decision was not easy to make. It took a couple of months for my limb to heal before I received my first prosthesis, but once I received it, I took off!

Having gone through the prosthetic fitting process and volunteering at some adaptive sports events, my career interests changed to prosthetics. I worked first in the clinical setting, fitting persons with limb loss with prosthetic devices. There was always so much gratification in patient care because I instantly saw the affect I had on peoples' live, and and that was wonderful. After some time, I realized that my reach could go further if I were to step into an R&D Prosthetist role for Ottobock.

With a global reach, I don't get the instant gratification as before, but when I'm out in public and notice a person with amputation walking by on a device I helped design or validate, I have a huge sense of pride, and that's a reminder that I'm making a difference in the world!

Limb loss opened up the opportunity for me to participate in sports. While this racing is fun for me, the mentality of why I do them is less for me and more for my fellow amputees and adaptive athletes. I want to not only prove to them what we're capable of, but also to inspire them to join!"