Free Republic

When Patrick Morrison left hospital after having his right foot amputated, he thought the sense of imbalance he felt would vanish once he got used to his newly fitted artificial foot. But it was not until five months later, when he took off the protective socks, that he realised he had been given two left feet. A prosthetic limb specialist had fitted an artificial left foot to his right leg - and failed to spot his mistake during two further check-ups. The foot was also too big - made to fit a size nine shoe rather than a size eight.

Thought this definitely deserved a mention - the U.S. Army is looking at using virtual worlds to provide social therapy and smooth the adjustment process for amputee soldiers. If it helps them build a community and adjust to their new environment, I say it's worth it.

TAU's man/machine interface is essential link in groundbreaking prosthetic handIn one sense, our hands define our humanity. Our opposable thumbs and our hands' unique structure allow us to write, paint, and play the piano. Those who lose their hands as a result of accident, conflict or disease often feel they've lost more than mere utility. A new invention from Tel Aviv University researchers may change that. Prof. Yosi Shacham-Diamand of TAU's Department of Engineering, working with a team of European Union scientists, has successfully wired a state-of-the-art artificial hand to existing nerve endings in the stump of a severed arm....

Most people who lose a leg dream of walking again. For adaptive athlete Jarem Frye, the inventor of a spring-loaded prosthetic knee transforming the lives of amputees, that wasn't nearly enough. He wanted to fly. Jarem Frye at his office in Mcminnville, Oregon (Photograph by Annie Marie Musselman) WHAT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE a military propaganda video showing footage of U.S. Marines on patrol—protecting an Iraqi neighborhood from insurgents—now lives on the Internet, where you can see Garrett Jones's last steps as a whole-bodied man. The 15-second clip, shot in July 2007 in the city of Karmah, is poor in...

CHULA VISTA, Calif., July 22, 2009 – Army Sgt. Jerrod Fields hasn’t just learned to adapt as an amputee since hitting a roadside bomb in Iraq. He is on his way to becoming a record-holding sprinter. Army Sgt. Jerrod Fields, an Army World Class Athlete Program sprinter and Paralympic hopeful, works out at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, Calif. A below-the-knee amputee, Fields won a gold medal in the 100 meters with a time of 12.15 seconds at the Endeavor Games in Edmond, Okla., on June 13, 2009. U.S. Army photo by Tim Hipps  (Click photo for screen-resolution...

DAVIE, Fla. — When the sharp pain shooting through Lisa Strong's back got worse, she thought it was another kidney stone and expected the discomfort to pass. This time was different. Through a series of mistakes, miscommunications and misdiagnoses, she wound up having her arms and legs amputated. She sued the doctors, who essentially blamed one another for what everyone involved agrees were profound errors. Everyone except the jury that ruled against Strong.

3/27/2009 - BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan (AFNS) -- What sets Maj. Alan Brown apart from other Airmen in the gym at Bagram Airfield's Camp Cunningham isn't his workout routine, it's his right leg. "When people see me in shorts at the gym there's definitely a pattern," said the 42-year-old mobility pilot of Pine Bluffs, Wyo. "They glance at my eyes, look down at my leg and then look back at my eyes," said the Wyoming Air National Guard Airmen deployed with the 774th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron. "It happens every time." Major Brown accidentally shot his leg in a hunting accident more...

FORT BRAGG, N.C., March 5, 2009 – A roadside bomb in Afghanistan cost Army Sgt. 1st Class John “Mike” Fairfax his right leg, but it didn’t take away his spirit. Army Sgt. 1st Class Mike Fairfax, left, a Special Forces intelligence sergeant with Operations Detachment, 3rd Special Forces Group, inspects a soldier's parachute aboard an aircraft over a drop zone above Raeford, N.C. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. 1st Class Jason B. Baker  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. In November, Fairfax -- a Special Forces intelligence noncommissioned officer assigned to Headquarters Support Company, 3rd Special Forces Group --...

A New Zealand double amputee never expected a response when she sent a note to a special effects company asking if they would create a mermaid tail to help her swim. Two years later, her dream came true.Nadya Vessey, who lost both her legs to an illness during her childhood, sent an e-mail to the Weta Workshop prosthetics department. Weta is best known for their special effects work in the "Lord of the Rings" series, and the 2005 remake of "King Kong."

WASHINGTON, Feb. 26, 2009 – The U.S. Army Warrant Officer School soon will welcome a new accession of warrant officers this spring, and one will bring with him a new perspective to the Army officer corps. Staff Sgt. Jonathan Holsey is the first amputee accepted into the U.S. Army Warrant Officer School. Holsey, who lost his leg following a roadside bomb explosion in Iraq, is to report to the school at Fort Rucker, Ala., in April 2009. Courtesy photo  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Staff Sgt. Johnathan Holsey became the first amputee accepted by the Warrant Officer School...

True Valor is Priceless Written by Norman Fulkerson    Wednesday, November 12 2008 When Michael Monsoor jumped on a grenade to save the lives of three Navy Seals in September of 2006, the nation was left speechless. The Medal of Honor was presented to his grieving parents, during a White House reception, as a mournful audience looked on. There was a man in the room that day that might have seemed like just another soldier, if not for the peculiar spring in his step. His name is William “Spanky” Gibson. He had just flown in from overseas and had a...

It’s October at Duke University, in Durham, N.C., and Jonathan Kuniholm is playing “air guitar hero,” a variation on Guitar Hero, the Nintendo Wii game that lets you try to keep up with real musicians using a vaguely guitarlike controller. But the engineer is playing without a guitar. More to the point, he’s playing without his right hand, having lost it in Iraq in 2005. Instead he works the controller by contracting the muscles in his forearm, creating electrical impulses that electrodes then feed into the game. After about an hour he beats the high score set by Robert Armiger,...

FORT MONROE, Va., Dec. 29, 2008 – The blast of a roadside bomb in Iraq's Sunni Triangle resulted in the amputation of a portion of Richard Ingram's left arm, but it did not rob him of his dream of becoming an Army officer. Richard Ingram, right, takes the oath of office as a second lieutenant administered by Army 1st Lt. Robert Morris at North Georgia College and State University, Dec. 13, 2008. Photo by Kate Maine  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Ingram's dream became a reality Dec. 13 when he graduated from North Georgia College and State University...

She went to a Brooklyn emergency room suffering from what she thought was just a kidney stone, but a medical nightmare left her partly blind and a quadruple amputee. Tabitha Mullings claims doctors at Brooklyn Hospital Center failed to diagnose an infection that has literally eaten her alive. RELATED: BOY WITH GIANT LIMB GIVEN $200G FIXUP "Sometimes I can't believe it's me laying here," the mother of three told the Daily News Wednesday from her bed in the very hospital she blames for her ravaged body.  Wiping tears with a bandaged stump, Mullings struggled to explain how in a...

This is the first time Marine Cpl. Zachary Briseno will be in his Fort Worth, Texas, home for Thanksgiving in four and a half years since his two tours of duty in Iraq. That’s something to be thankful for. But the 23-year-old has a furrier reason for thankfulness this week. Briseno, who lost both of his legs below the knees almost a year ago in an IED attack in Fallujah, is getting a specially trained guide dog to help him in his day-to-day tasks. The dog was trained through Carolina Canines for Veterans, an adjunct program of the local nonprofit...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 12, 2008 – Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Matthew Ryan Bradford was part of a patrol to clear an area near Haditha, Iraq, of roadside bombs with the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Division, on Jan. 18, 2007. Marine Lance Cpl. Matthew Bradford goes surfing in Hawaii. He hasn't let his injuries caused by a roadside bomb near Haditha, Iraq, stop him from enjoying many of the activities he participated in before the Jan. 18, 2007, blast. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Matthew Bradford  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. “We found it,” he said with a chuckle,...

CAMP FALLUJAH, Iraq, Oct. 31, 2008 – A noncommissioned officer who returned to Iraq nine months ago after his left leg was amputated above the knee soon will represent the Marine Corps in the halls of Congress. Marine Corps Master Sgt. William "Spanky" Gibson, force fires chief, Multinational Force West, waits to get on the aircraft that will begin his trip home. Gibson, from Pryor, Okla., accepted an invitation as one of the first three staff non-commissioned officers to become Marine Corps congressional fellows. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Sean P. McGinty  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available....

FORT DETRICK, Md., Oct. 30, 2008 – In most ways, Army Capt. Alex Houston is like any other Army commander. Army Capt. Alex Houston, 21st Signal Brigade Headquarters and Headquarters Company commander, talks with soldiers at Fort Detrick, Md. Houston lost his left hand in Iraq, but continues to serve. U.S. Army photo  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. He comes to work here every day ready to lead and set the standard for the soldiers who work for him. He diligently performs all of his administrative duties as the 21st Signal Brigade Headquarters and Headquarters Company commander, and...

Disabled soldier goes back to war in Afghanistan Six months after losing a leg, Corporal Stuart Hale has returned to the battle zone in Afghanistan   Sonia Verma at the Kandahar Airbase A British paratrooper who lost his leg to a landmine has become the first amputee to return to military service in Afghanistan, in the war zone where he was disabled. Corporal Stuart Hale arrived with the 3rd Batallion, The Parachute Regiment last month for a joint operation against the Taleban with Canadian forces in Kandahar province. It is a fight that he was forced to leave on...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 16, 2008 – When Army Sgt. Nicholas Paupore puts a mirror between his legs and looks down, he’s whole again. The right leg that was destroyed when an explosively formed penetrator ripped through his Humvee just south of Kirkuk, Iraq, suddenly reappears before his eyes, reflecting the left leg that remains. Navy Cmdr. (Dr.) Jack Tsao, associate professor of neurology at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, in Bethesda, Md., encouraged Army Sgt. Nicholas Paupore, an outpatient at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, in Washington, D.C., to try mirror therapy to treat phantom pain in...