Only 18 months before the race, April’s life had taken a sudden, devastating turn. After being trapped beneath a train, her left leg was amputated below the knee. “How will I ever be able to run or play basketball again?” the 27-year-old worried when she awakened in the hospital, facing the first day of a life that had changed forever.
      Sports had always been a big part of April’s life. Now walking wasn’t even a certainty. Her surgeon gave April some magazines about amputees. “I marveled at how these people who were missing limbs could still run and participate in sports, but it seemed like such a remote possibility for me. I had so much pain and couldn’t even look at my limb,” she recalled.
      Andrea met April when she came to Mediplex Rehabilitation Hospital (Marlton, N.J.) as an outpatient, shortly after her discharge from the hospital. She was withdrawn and still under the influence of strong pain medications.
      Exercise sparked her. As she became stronger, her dynamic personality began to surface. She was determined and self-disciplined, with a tendency towards impatience, which she admits continues even today.
      “I began to count down the days until I would be fitted for my prosthesis,” she remembered. “I was very disappointed at the slightest delay. I just wanted to be able to walk.” At this time, April attended her first meeting of the amputee support group, Amps in Action. “I met other amputees and got many of my questions answered,” she said.
      Finally, April received her prosthesis. She spent the next few months in prosthetic training at Mediplex, first in the inpatient rehabilitation program, and then transitioning back to outpatient.
      “Her inpatient therapists and I taught her how to manage her prosthesis and, of course, walk,” Andrea explained. “She progressed from walking on level surfaces to negotiating stairs, curbs, ramps and anything she may face in the community.”
      The turning point came one spring day when Andrea suggested that April try running on the treadmill.
      “Ever since my amputation, I had avoided the idea of running. Now it was staring me in the face,” April said. “I stepped on to the treadmill and, as the speed increased, I began to jog. I was running! I could really run with a prosthesis! It wasn’t very comfortable because that leg wasn’t designed for running. But I realized I had the potential to resume the activity I thought I had lost forever.”
      April was discharged from therapy at Mediplex with exercises that would improve her strength, balance, endurance and mobility. At the same time, she found a company that offered to sponsor her with a running prosthesis.
      Training for competitive running should have taken at least a year. But not for our impatient April. In less than half that time, she entered her first race. At the International Challenge Games in Orlando, Fla., she finished first in her class in the 100 meters and qualified for the world games in France.   
      “Who knows what can happen in a year?” April said. “I didn’t want to wait; I knew I was ready!”
      Since returning from France, April has continued to train and will soon participate in more races to prepare for her next goal, the Paralympic Games in Athens, Greece, in 2004. Despite her busy schedule, April still attends the Amps in Action support group.
      “I love coming to the meetings. It’s rewarding to be able to help out new amputees,” April said.
      When Andrea spoke with April recently, they talked about her achievements. “The biggest contribution to my success was the rehabilitation I received at Mediplex,” April said.
      “How wonderful to know that what we do on a daily basis can make such a difference in another person’s life,” Andrea concluded proudly.

Photos courtesy of Hanger Prosthetics & Orthotics, Inc.,
Randy Richardson, RPA.