March 27, 2014 - Kevin Johnson navigated high school on crutches instead of bothering with the soreness and bleeding that came with wearing his first prosthetic leg.But that’s changed. The right leg he gets around on today just two-stepped through Daytona Beach’s Bike Week.
When he waits on a red light, it stays on the brake of his custom Harley-Davidson without slipping to the ground. And the leg safely allows him to jump to the ground when he lands the helicopter he pilots.
It’s also proven handy for roping cattle, racing cars and operating bulldozers. (That last part is what he does for a paycheck.)
Johnson, who lives southeast of Chillicothe, lost much of his leg at 14 when a combine in a field of soybeans on the family farm snagged his shoestring. That was in 1979.
More than three decades makes a big difference, as has a recent study to improve prosthetic limbs for returning troops and other amputees.
WillowWood, a prosthetic-maker in Mount Sterling, is collaborating with wound experts at Ohio State University’s Wexner Medical Center to improve prosthetics for those who’ve lost a leg above the knee.
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs gave $3.7 million for the work. The team is about 18 months into a 26-month project, said Jim Colvin, director of research and development at WillowWood.
So far, there have been 20 participants. read more>>>
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