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This is me in my new life as an Left Above Knee (LAK)
amputee. I lost my leg on March 13th 1998 due to
parosteal sarcoma, a form of cancer growing on (not in) the bone.
First, my fibula was removed, I went through chemotherapy and thought I
had it licked, but a year later my cancer mutated and recurred as something
else even nastier, "Leiomyoma" which is even more darn rare ( It means that
it changed forms!)
Here I am on November 11th, 1999 preparing to do some skydiving in Hawaii. Had to do it before the millennium arrived! I know now that life really is 1/10th what you make it and 9/10th's how you take it. |
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Oh...... and here I am (with George my "tandem" jumpmaster) actually
jumping! I blame (OK... I thank) my buddy and mentor Dana Bowman
for inspiring me to try this!
See why Dana of the Golden Knights believes there are absolutely "No Limits!" Click his
link to check out his newest website:
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BTW, don't overlook counseling. It's 99% attitude. When my leg needed attention, nobody blinked when they heard I was looking for the best surgeon I could find. Understandably, when my spirit (head) needed attention afterwards, nobody thought that was a bad idea either! Just Do It! |
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This is the four of us after an entire day of riding mopeds
in Hawaii. We must have
been crazy to do it but it sure was a blast.
Pictured Left to Right are...
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Susan and Chuck getting ready to cruise the island of Hawaii.... (still 1999) |
 Click here to see details of the hand shifter parts.
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Custom hand-controlled shifters, one with a skull and one with a normal black ball (both pictured at left) were added to both motorcycles for under $30. Now, fast-forward from November 1999 to March of 2006. I had no idea that I would be riding a motorcycle again but after being motivated by Tim, I am riding a trike as well as a two-wheel Honda Rebel. I sort of got the idea from Tim McCarthey, aka "One Leg Tim at http://www.onelegtim.com/motorcycle.html who shows how to ride a motorcycle and shift with an electronic shifter. There are two shifter manufacturers that I know of now, which are Pingel and Kliktronic. Amazingly one manufacturer even has an aftermarket centrifugal automatic transmission. I learned all of this from the guys at www.hausoftrikes.com who have me riding two-wheel motorcycles again and a three-wheeler Harley Davidson motorcycle trike. With the addition of a hand-shifter (a.k.a. jockey shifter or suicide shifter) I now ride a 1978 Honda Rebel to regain my confidence. I added "suicide shifters" (left-handed hand shifters) on both of them (because they are cool) and a Kliktronic electric pushbutton shifter on the Harley. Go to the their website and contact them for all of the details. The owner is also a bilateral amputee and so he knows exactly what works. There is a 1-800 number on their website. Tell them Chuck sent you and they will take extra special care of you. |
