Wounded Warrior Softball Team Thumps D.C. Celebs

By J.D. Leipold

Army News Service

WASHINGTON  – The loss of an arm or a leg didn't seem to have an effect on the play of soldiers and Marines who make up the Wounded Warrior Amputee Softball Team yesterday as they soundly thumped a Washington-area celebrity team made up of sports legends, broadcasters and even the D.C. mayor.

In the second annual battle between the teams, hosted by the Washington Nationals at their ballpark, the softball classic started with the able-bodied celebrities taking an early 2-0 lead. But the celebrities could muster only two more runs in five innings of play as the wounded warriors -- playing with leg or arm prosthetics or no prosthetic at all -- couldn't be stopped defensively or offensively. They gave the celebrities a 17-4 shellacking under a perfect evening sky and full moon.

For Army veteran Greg Reynolds, the loss of his left arm forequarter happened at home following a 15-month Iraq tour when he was hit by a car while riding his motorcycle. His odds were one in 2,000 of surviving and even less while in recovery, he said.

"To be out here today in front of all these people by far exceeds anything I thought possible," Reynolds said. "This is a really rewarding, humbling experience to play on such an amazing team with my brothers, but to be out and to play with obviously missing a great portion of my body motivates me to the next level, because I have this inner discipline and motivation where I want to play better than the guy with his limbs. No one should put limitations on themselves."

While on a night patrol in Iraq, Matt Kinsey stepped on a landmine, losing his right foot.

"You go from being a paratrooper, which is a very proud thing and you take a lot of pride in it, to missing a foot and your career,” he said. “It's not over, but it's really tough to get back into the infantry, and you go from being on top of the mountain to being on the bottom of it.

"This is a dream come true,” the former high school and college ball player continued. “Every little kid dreams of getting a second chance as an athlete, and I had one and lost it. This is my second chance, so I play as hard as I can while I'm out here, because it can be gone just in the blink of an eye."

Veteran soldier Brian T. Urruela, who lost his right leg below the knee to two improvised explosive devices during Operation Iraqi Freedom, said playing ball is like the next phase of his recovery, which he described as “a long, long journey of about five years."

"Being at this level and maintaining this level, we're constantly working at improving our limbs and it definitely pushes us to our limits,” he said. “It's improved me tenfold."

The partnership with the Wounded Warrior Amputee Softball Team is one of several military outreach efforts the Nationals organization has undertaken. Team officials said they hope the softball game demonstrates to other amputees and the public that through rehabilitation and training, life without a limb can be unlimited.

Military Mom Cares for Triple Amputee Son

By Elaine Sanchez
American Forces Press Service

SAN ANTONIO, – Saralee Trimble hunches over a craft table, meticulously weaving thin strips of material together to form a basket.

The room is noisy with TVs blaring and people chatting and laughing, but her concentration is unbroken as she focuses on her task.

For just a few brief moments, this mom of five is simply focused on piecing together a basket, rather than the life that was nearly lost to her on a roadside in Afghanistan.

Trimble’s son, Army Pfc. Kevin Trimble, was just four months into his deployment when a fellow soldier standing three feet away stepped on a homemade bomb. The soldier was killed and Trimble lost both of his legs above the knee and his left arm above the elbow.

Trimble was at home in New Orleans when she got the phone call. It’s a call, she said with tears welling up, that she’ll never forget.

The and her husband, Daniel, were told their son had been injured and was in serious condition, but was stable and alert. Shocked at the news, they focused on the positive. “The most important thing was he was alert,” she said.

After a few days in Germany, her son arrived at Brooke Army Medical Center here on Sept. 24, and Trimble, her husband and her children rushed there to greet him.

The toughest moment, Trimble said, was when she saw her son for the first time. “I wanted to cry,” she said, again tearing up at the recollection. “It was heavy, real heavy.”

Not wanting to convey their shock, she and her husband went out in the hall, held each other and cried. Her son had dreamed of being a soldier for as long as she could remember, and joined right out of high school. She knew how devastating this injury would be to him as a man, and a soldier.

“It was really hard,” she said. “He’s 19; he’s my baby.” She then thought of her other children. Four of her five children are in the service: one in the Air Force, two in the Army and one in the Marine Corps Reserve.

Two have deployed multiple times and one expects to go soon, she said. “I thought of Kevin and then, ‘What about them?’”

The Long Recovery

Trimble steeled herself for the long recovery road ahead. Her electrician husband returned home to a foreman job they couldn’t afford for him to lose, and she settled in at the hospital. She grimaced as she recollected those early days of recovery.

“It was very traumatic, no way around it, it just is,” she said.

Trimble said her son was boiling hot all the time so they placed ice packs on his shoulders and constantly doused his face and neck with cold water. He was on pain medication, but even that couldn’t fully prevent the pain. “You can’t avoid it; it’s part of it,” she said.

Throughout, Kevin remained positive, Trimble said, with only a few moments of despair. “A few times he’s broken down and said, ‘Mom, look at me. What good am I?’”

In those moments, Trimble said all she could do was pray with her son and assure him he’d be OK. She never, even from the start, had a doubt that he’d pull through, she said.

Trimble said her son reached a turning point when a group of wounded warriors, including several triple amputees, came to see him at his bedside. “That encouraged him so much to see other guys the same as him who were actually getting around and able to do something,” she said.

Kevin checked out of the hospital less than two months after his injury, and is about to start his therapy at the Center for the Intrepid, a state-of-the-art rehabilitation center just steps away from the hospital.

He’s had one two-hour physical therapy session so far, Trimble said, and that one “wiped him out.” “They had him getting from the wheelchair onto the floor and then back up,” she said, noting that’s no easy feat with just one arm. “When he came back he didn’t want to do nothing but sleep.

“But that’s good,” she added. “He needs that challenge.”

Next up, he’ll be fitted for a prosthetic arm, and later prosthetic legs. The sooner he can use his limbs and gain independence, the better, Trimble said.

Meanwhile, she is helping him get acclimated to his “new normal” by taking him on outings, whether it’s to Sea World or to play miniature golf. He had a great time golfing, she said, but was saddened by the children’s stares.

“I told him, ‘You know you’re going to have that the rest of your life,’” she said. “‘You are different from everyone else, but that doesn’t say who you are. You still are who you are.’”

The Challenges of Caregiving

It’s been a rough couple of months and Trimble acknowledged the stress that accompanies full-time caregiving. Fearful of the devastating impact of a fall, she isn’t comfortable yet leaving her son alone. And she only has brief respites during appointments or when one of her children is there to help. But even a short break can provide a big recharge, she said.

When she’s not by her son’s side, Trimble finds respite, and solace, in the Warrior and Family Support Center, a sprawling 12,500–square-foot facility here. The center offers a place for families and wounded warriors to relax, reconnect or just have a cup of coffee. Along with computers, video games, movies and books, the center offers a host of outings, and craft classes to service members and their families.

Trimble is a familiar face at the craft tables. One day she’ll be seen weaving baskets, and the next she is building a mosaic or stained glass creation. Her son and other family members often join in, as well. On this day, Kevin and his brother and sister -- visiting here on military leave -- stopped by for a leatherworking class. They joked and laughed as they worked on their creations. Kevin was making a belt with help from his brother, Ben.

As he worked, Kevin said he was grateful for his mom’s presence. “Things would be harder without her,” he acknowledged.

Having family around is vital for a wounded warrior’s recovery, his mother noted. “It’s very important for them to have support,” she said. “Look at Kevin. It’s not even two months and look where he’s at.”

Trimble said they’ll most likely be here for another two years. Her son’s goal is to graduate from the Center for the Intrepid on his 21st birthday, May 22, 2013.

Meanwhile, Trimble has a long road of caregiving ahead, but said she’s up to the task. The toughest challenge for her isn’t the lack of time alone or the stress, she said, it’s seeing her son in pain. “That’s one reason why you want to take a break,” she said. “Knowing that he’s suffering … that’s very hard.”

With two years of separation from her husband looming, Trimble said the time apart will be tough. Plus, she’s worried about how he’s maintaining their home in her absence. “I’m sure no one is running the broom while I’m away,” she joked.

But despite the ongoing struggles, Trimble said she wouldn’t have it any other way. She’ll be by her son’s side for as long as he needs her to be.

“He’s my son. Caring for him … I couldn’t ask for anything more special.”

Record Number of Military Amputees Set to Run Army Ten Miler

By David Mays
Special to American Forces Press Service

Oct. 4, 2007 - Dozens of military amputees will be part of a record crowd of 26,000 to run the Army Ten-Miler on Oct. 7 at the Pentagon. "It's hard to believe we are on our fourth year," Army Maj. David Rozelle said. "Our first year it was just a few of us, our second was 12, and last year we doubled to 24. This year we will be our strongest yet with 30."

Rozelle is team captain of "Missing Parts in Action," the tongue-in-cheek name for a group of military athletes recovering at Walter Reed Army Medical Center here; Brook Army Medical Center, at Fort Sam Houston, Texas; and San Diego Navy Medical Center, in California.

"We are proud to continue to represent our fellow amputees," he said.

Rozelle lost his right foot to an anti-tank mine in Iraq in June 2003. After nine months of rehabilitation, he was declared fit for duty and sent back to Iraq to command Headquarters and Headquarters Troop, 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment. Rozelle now administers the Amputee Care Center at Walter Reed.

Other team members include a Special Forces soldier who lost his right eye and was blinded in his left during an attack last year in Iraq and will run tethered to his training partner from Fort Bragg, N.C. Another wounded soldier who lost part of his hand during combat said he's running the ten-miler to represent not only the Army but also his friends serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Servicemembers deployed overseas will participate in "shadow" versions of the race, traversing 10-mile courses often consisting of multiple loops on such forward installations as camps Victory and Taji, Al Asad Air Base and Logistics Support Area Adder. Runners there prepare not just for heat and dehydration, but also the ever-present possibility of mortar attacks.

Thirty-seven women whose husbands have deployed to Iraq, some for the third time, will run the race in Washington to honor sacrifices of their loved ones and to raise awareness about what families of deployed servicemembers experience.

"I think it's important to have groups like ours out there so that people don't forget that for every soldier serving, there's a family he or she left behind," explained Gabriele Winton, whose husband is on his second combat tour in Iraq. "Those families are making a huge sacrifice too."

Hundreds of military teams from across the country and around the world will descend on the Pentagon to compete in what has become the largest 10-mile race in the United States. More than 50 teams will set up support stations in the Pentagon south parking area and compete in the "HOOAH Tent Zone," during which demonstrating the best "Army spirit" is the criteria for victory.

The 23rd running of the Army Ten-Miler begins Oct. 7 at 8 a.m. Eastern Time and will take runners on a scenic tour along the National Mall. The race is organized every year by the U.S. Army Military District of Washington.

Walter Reed Gait Laboratory Puts Amputee Troops Back in Step

By Fred W. Baker III
American Forces Press Service

June 20, 2007 – As today's highly active servicemember amputees push their prosthetic devices to the limits, a lab at Walter Reed Army Medical Center here is gathering data that will help designers make the prostheses better, while enabling faster, more efficient recoveries for patients. At the Gait Lab, patient information is gathered using a high-tech, state-of-the-art computer system that combines reflective markers and cameras to gather data on how amputees move using their prostheses. Using oxygen and heart-rate monitors, the lab also can gather data on how much energy it takes for amputees to walk using prostheses.

"The patients want to put on a prosthesis and be able to feel comfortable walking, transition to running if they need to, and do whatever other activities they want," said Barri Schnall, the physical therapist at the lab. "At this point, if they want to sprint or they want to run, they need to change out of their walking prosthesis and into their running leg or foot. When we give feedback to the prosthetic companies, they can use the data that we have and the information that we are providing to help achieve the goal of providing a universal type of prosthesis."

To gather the movement data, reflective markers are placed at key joints on the patient, including the legs, arms and hips. Encircling the room are eight specialized cameras with light-emitting diodes, known as LEDs, that flash at 120 times per second and record in true three-dimensional volume the reflections of the markers in the various positions as the patient walks. The angle and position of every joint -- ankles, hips, arms, pelvis, etc. -- is recorded in real time and expressed on a stick figure rendition of the patient walking.

In addition, two force plates in the floor collect "kinetic" data, recording how hard the patient's feet land on the floor and how much power is generated.

All measurements are taken in an area that is about 20 feet long, 6 feet wide and 7 feet high.

Once the data is collected in the computer, it can be compared to the motion of a non-amputee, or even data from the patient's non-amputee side, allowing better analysis by the rehabilitation team.

"We can tell what deviations they have and what compensations they are using to help them walk," lab engineer Brian Baum said. "We take this information and then sit down with the patient, the prosthetist, the physical therapist and the physicians to give them more objective information on ways they can better treat the patient."

The team members work together to decide if it is better to change the alignment of the prosthesis, change out a component, make changes to the patient's physical therapy, or a combination of the approaches.

A digital video camera also records the patient's movements allowing a third-person view of movement patterns. Schnall said the variety of data and media is looked at individually and collectively to best help the patient.

"Everybody has a different way of learning," Schnall said. "For some patients, the graphs really hit home. They'll say, 'Oh, my physical therapist has been telling me this, but thought I was doing it right.'

"Some people find the video is helpful. They have never seen themselves walk as an amputee other than in the mirror, but that really doesn't hit home sometimes," she said.

Patients' movements are typically recorded and monitored over the course of three or more visits. The first is when the patient starts walking using a prosthesis, the second is when they are walking independently, and then finally just before the patient's discharge. Patients can be evaluated on an as-needed basis as well, if, for example, they are having pain during walking. Gait analysis can help narrow the source and identify possible solutions.

The system is accurate in identifying where the reflective markers are to within one millimeter. This helps when detecting finer movement trends, Baum said.

"Our eyes can't pick up that little movement. This system can. "(At first) you can pick up large issues, but when they start walking pretty well, this system really takes over and can look at the finishing touches," Baum said.

More information is better when it comes down to helping patients learn how to use their prosthesis in active lifestyles, he said.

"We're just trying to take as much information as possible from everybody, ... put it all together, ... and then use this information to help treat them and improve the rehabilitation process," he said.

"This group is really pushing the envelope and really pushing the prosthetic companies to design more robust and more functional prostheses because these guys want to return to duty. They want to return to a very active lifestyle. They want to run marathons. They want to do things that a lot of amputees haven't been able to do in the past, partly because of the technological limitations," Baum said.

A new lab being built in the Amputee Care Center at the hospital will offer a much larger space with greater flexibility, allowing more data to be collected from activities such as running. The new lab will include a virtual-reality system with a large free-moving platform that allows patients to work through on-screen simulations such as standing in a boat or riding on a subway. This will help patients learn to develop muscles needed to function in the normal world, Baum said.

Data gathered by the lab allows experts to analyze, develop solutions, improve rehab processes, and improve prosthetic designs and orthopedic interventions, Schnall said. She said the investment in the technology is a small price compared to sacrifices the servicemembers have made and that using this technology to expedite their rehab process is critical.

"We owe them the best technology and the best opportunity to return in a timely fashion to be able to do whatever they want to do and whatever they were able to do (pre-injury)," she said.

Walter Reed Prosthetic Technician 'Pulls' for Troops

By Fred W. Baker III
American Forces Press Service

June 12, 2007 – For prosthetic technician Jared Scott McClure, it's all about the "pull." He's referring to the process in which he pulls a hot sheet of plastic over the plaster mold of an amputee's residual limb to make a test socket for the patient's prosthetic leg.

"The pull is everything," he said, admiring his latest work, a test socket for a female patient who is an amputee at the ankle.

McClure said the goal is to get the plastic consistent, but heavier in specific pressure points. How well he does his job determines the fit and function of the permanent socket and, ultimately, how well servicemembers perform with their prostheses.

This is his second attempt at this test socket. The first was not good enough, he said.

A Navy veteran, McClure said he always wanted to work in the medical field but didn't care for hospitals. "I like to get my hands dirty. I like working with hammers and tools and stuff," he said.

As a prosthetic technician, his job is part science, part art, and a lot of muscle.

McClure said he was struggling in college after leaving the Navy, and wasn't sure what he wanted to do. He learned about the school from his Veterans Affairs counselor. McClure said he was hesitant at first, but was sold after talking to the staff there.
"Within five minutes of talking to the instructor, I knew. I was like 'Wow, this is it. Where do I sign up?' And here it is, three years later, I'm in D.C. working at Walter Reed fitting legs on guys who went to war," he said.

To make a test socket, McClure suspends a sheet of hard plastic nearly a half-inch thick in a convection oven set at 370 degrees Fahrenheit. The plastic heats for about 10 minutes and begins drooping in the center. McClure takes it out of the oven when the plastic droops equal to about half of the height of the mold. With the help of another technician, McClure then drapes it over the mold, kneading the plastic as he goes to remove air from between the plastic and the plaster. When finished, he prefers to have at least one-quarter-inch thickness throughout the socket.

Once it cools and re-hardens, the test socket is trimmed using a small circular hand saw, the rough edges are ground and sanded, and it is rubbed with a chemical solution that smoothes the test socket to a glass-like finish. The whole process takes McClure about three hours. He makes about 16 test sockets a week, he said.

McClure has been a prosthetic technician for nearly a year and has worked at Walter Reed for just more than a month. He lives with his cousin in the District of Columbia. From a small town Oklahoma, McClure said he came to D.C. looking for an adventure. What he found was a job that he loves.

"It's so morally gratifying. I'm proud of it," he said. "I put 110 percent into everything I do because of who it's going on. I try to give these guys a new kind of life -- show them they are not limited by whatever appendage they may have or may not have."

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Army Path Takes Amputee Soldier to Forefront of Amputee Care

By Fred W. Baker III
American Forces Press Service

June 8, 2007 – Army Maj. David Rozelle walked with difficultly up the steep dirt path that cuts through the grass and away from a concrete sidewalk running along the north side of Walter Reed Army Medical Center here. He apologized for his awkwardness.

"I'm trying on a new foot today," he said. "I like it. But any time you get a new foot, you've got to get used to it."

As an armored cavalry troop commander, Rozelle lost his right foot to an anti-tank mine in Iraq in 2003.

Since then, he has been cutting new paths for amputees in the Army. Rozelle is an expert skier, a tri-athlete, and one of the first Iraq war amputees to be deemed fit to return to active duty. Only a little more than a year after losing his foot, Rozelle stepped back in front of an armored cavalry formation as commander and led his troops back to the same battlefield that claimed his foot, almost cost him his Army career, and nearly took his life.

And, as fate would have it, Rozelle later returned to the very medical center that gave him back his foot, his Army career and, for the most part, his life as he enjoyed it before his injury.

Now, the two-time Iraq-war veteran is walking another path that takes him to the forefront of amputee care.

This path leads up and around a chain-linked fence to the front of a construction site -- his construction site.

As deputy to the program manager for amputee care at Walter Reed, Rozelle is in charge of construction of the new Amputee Care Center. When finished, its only equal will be the likes of the Center for the Intrepid -- a $50 million, 65,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art physical rehabilitation center recently opened on Fort Sam Houston, Texas.

This building will be smaller, about 30,000 square feet, but will boast many of the same amenities as the Center for the Intrepid. These include upper- and lower-body-specific training rooms, prosthetic adjustments, an indoor running track, a climbing and rappelling wall, and other exercise facilities aimed at getting patients to the "highest level of recovery and rehabilitation," Rozelle said.

More than just amputees will benefit from the facility, he said. Those suffering from traumatic brain injuries and others with severe injuries will undergo rehabilitation there.

Two sides of the building will be built with glass walls, allowing sunlight to penetrate throughout the upper indoor track area and down into the lower-level exercise rooms.

"It gives them hope as they are working out. They can look up and out and see the sunlight and think, 'You know, I'm on my way to being back outside,'" Rozelle said. "If they're up on the track running, they will see people on the road running right next to them. That will give them hope to take that running outside."

When finished, the center will offer "the world's best equipment and the world's best therapists and the world's best therapy," he said.

"These guys and girls are going back to active duty, and on to world-class athlete sports programs, and off to college. We get them back to where they deserve to be, and that's at the highest level of physical training and ability," Rozelle said.

Rozelle was handpicked for the job because of his passion and commitment to amputee care, he said. "Who better to help guide the engineers and the builders on this project than an amputee who would use this facility?" Rozelle said.

"I think some people initially thought that I was here just to be to be kind of a feel-good guy on staff and walk around and shake hands, but I've been working really hard since I got here to get this building up and get the program straight inside the building. I like to think that I've been integral in a lot of different things, but obviously my blood and sweat goes into this project here," he said.

Rozelle's job is to build the center, help develop policy and programs for the center, and to act as a mentor for injured soldiers.

He reported to work at the center in August 2005, but the Base Realignment and Closure process delayed the project's start. After a handful of reviews by Army lawyers and Congress, eight months later the project was under way.

"Once we got started, we've been rolling. And we've not slowed down a bit," Rozelle said.

In the past six months, builders have gone from clearing the ground to "vertical" construction -- the placement of water pipes, air ducts, water, etc. Rozelle said he hopes to open the doors for business by October.

"Any day that this facility is not open is a day that we don't have the best care for our veterans," he said. "It's going to be a world class facility." Rozelle said that the Army has come a long way in breaking the previous models on how it treats and rehabilitates amputees. Care plans used to focus on getting the patient to the level of using crutches or a wheelchair and then turning them over to the Department of Veterans Affairs for the remaining rehabilitation. Patient feedback at the center has shown troops prefer to rehabilitate with the same doctors and therapy teams that begin their care.

Also before, there was very little discussion about the servicemember's option of returning to duty after an amputation. Rozelle said officials first tried to push him into that model.

"The VA came to my room and gave me my separation paperwork. I kept saying, 'What's this separation thing? Just because I am an amputee? You guys are telling me about all of these prosthetic legs and stuff. I can continue to serve,'" Rozelle said. "So, I was one of the first to break the mold."

In all, 63 amputees have returned to active duty across the services, he said.

Rozelle admitted he had to make some accommodations to serve as a commander in Iraq, but wouldn't say that his service was "difficult."

"It depends on how you define difficulty. I just had to plan things a little better. I had to have a back-up foot in my backpack. I had to always carry back-up parts," Rozelle said. "You have mechanical failures that you wouldn't normally worry about with your body."

Rozelle is now trying a new prosthesis. A recent surgery made more prosthetic feet available to him.

The liner he is testing is one of only three being used on a socket with a unique foot. It is an original running leg model with an attached high activity foot. It is designed to be more dynamic, allowing for more mobility and activity without having to change the foot.

"It's pretty amazing. I can actually bend my knee all the way back," he said.

Now, Rozelle has to change feet to match his activity. He swims with no prosthetic, changes to a high-energy foot for cycling and a different foot for running.

Having finished his command-time requirement, Rozelle is now waiting for a seat at the Intermediate Level Education course, formerly the Command and General Staff Officer Course, at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, while working on his building project. He hopes to finish the building before having to report to class.

If Rozelle doesn't get a class date before finishing his project here, he is very matter-of-fact about the next path he expects to take next.

"As soon as this is done, I'll go back to the Cav, ... back to Iraq ... and keep fighting," he said.

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Positive Attitude, Physical Therapy Turns Things Around for Amputees

By Fred W. Baker III
American Forces Press Service

June 4, 2007 – Working with Army Pfc. Randy Gollinger is, to say the least, challenging. When asked, his physical therapist, Bunnie Wyckoff, used the words "challenging" and "challenge" at least four times to describe her work with Gollinger.

"He's challenging. He was very difficult to motivate in the beginning. He turned around like most of the guys do. He's doing fine now. But he likes to challenge me all the way. I'm up for the challenge. I enjoy it," she said.

"He's a challenge," she said again, and laughed.

"I'm a pain in the butt," Gollinger corrected her, and then he laughed.

To be sure, if laughter is the best medicine, Gollinger, a military policeman injured by an explosive device while patrolling in Baghdad, is well on his way to a speedy recovery. An amputee who lost a leg and an eye, Gollinger is recovering at Walter Reed Army Medical Center here. He keeps Wyckoff on her toes and in stitches at the same time. The two go back and forth like kin, verbally poking and picking.

Wyckoff has been on staff at the center for more than three years and has personally worked with nearly half of the amputees who've received care there. She meets them bedside when they are first brought to the center and follows them through their care -- from being wheeled into the therapy room to, hopefully, walking out on their own.

"I love it here. I love to see the fact that people improve and they get back to living a life that's meaningful to them," Wyckoff said.

Wyckoff works with seven to 10 patients daily. Some are more independent and work through much of their therapy on their own, she said.

The physical therapy room is large, white and full of commotion. Low, padded tables cut through the center of the room providing areas for patients to lie, sit, exercise or rest. Amputees at various stages of therapy go about their recovery in a deliberate, although sometimes frustrating, fashion. Some work on upper body strength with familiar exercises like push ups; others practice walking; and some get help stretching from family members.

Exercise machines are stationed for walking and biking in the physical therapy room. Peer amputee visitors mingle and encourage, and there is even a therapy dog, Troy, who drops a tennis ball at the base of patients' wheelchairs in hopes that it will get thrown and he will get to chase. Some do, some don't, but eventually Troy finds someone who is willing to give the ball a fling across the room.

During this therapy session, Gollinger literally pulled Wyckoff around the outside of the main hospital building. Using a rubber band connected to a belt at Gollinger's waist, Wyckoff held and resisted as Gollinger stepped around the building in a race against fellow amputee Army Sgt. Kevin Brown. Gollinger lost.

Using the same resistance, Gollinger followed up his loss with an indoor race against Brown, maneuvering down a row of colored cones, stopping to squat using his prosthetic leg and touching the cone with his other leg. This race he won, although Wyckoff jokingly accused him of cheating. Friendly competition keeps the therapy fun, Gollinger said.

But the exercises have purpose, each targeting specific areas and concentrating on particular elements of recovery.

The exercises in this session help with balance and confidence using the prosthetic leg, Wyckoff said.

"We want them to be able to control the knee prosthetic, while they are squatting down. They need to be able to learn to pick things up off the floor," she said.

Gollinger has served in the Army for one and a half years, and he has spent nearly half of that time at Walter Reed. Therapy wasn't always as fun for him as it is now.

"At first I was very bitter. I didn't really care. Now it's just kind of like my second home," he said.

"Medically I died twice. I'm pretty thankful to be here today at all, let alone just missing an eye and a leg. You can't really complain about that," he said.

A year-round athlete in high school, Gollinger said he joined the Army to "get out and see the world." He also hoped to get money for college and eventually play college sports.

The 20-year-old said he thought his life was over when he found out his leg was amputated. But therapy and a positive attitude turned it around for him. The New York state native said he plans to enroll in college there to become a teacher and hopes to eventually hit the athletic fields again.

"I went through a really hard time trying to adapt and find things that would interest me," he said. "I figured my life was pretty much over with as far as stuff I liked to do, but I've been reassured that, depending on how good I get, I'll be able to play softball."
Gollinger said his therapy improved when his attitude improved. "As soon as I was mentally prepared ... everything else just took off, and I've been going nowhere else but up," he said.

"How bad do you want it? I want it bad now. Before, I didn't want it bad at all. Riding a wheel chair, I figured, would be my first means of transportation," Gollinger said. "The more I see everybody else I know getting up and walking, the more I realize that I don't want to be in a wheelchair the rest of my life."

Gollinger offered simple advice to those who follow in his footsteps at the center.

"Don't wait for things to happen. Make them happen. Keep your head up. Others have been there. And we're going to help," he said.

Article sponsored by criminal justice online leadership; and, police and military personnel who have authored books.

Positive Attitude, Physical Therapy Turns Things Around for Amputees

By Fred W. Baker III
American Forces Press Service

June 4, 2007 – Working with Army Pfc. Randy Gollinger is, to say the least, challenging.
When asked, his physical therapist, Bunnie Wyckoff, used the words "challenging" and "challenge" at least four times to describe her work with Gollinger. "He's challenging. He was very difficult to motivate in the beginning. He turned around like most of the guys do. He's doing fine now. But he likes to challenge me all the way. I'm up for the challenge. I enjoy it," she said.

"He's a challenge," she said again, and laughed.

"I'm a pain in the butt," Gollinger corrected her, and then he laughed.

To be sure, if laughter is the best medicine, Gollinger, a military policeman injured by an explosive device while patrolling in Baghdad, is well on his way to a speedy recovery. An amputee who lost a leg and an eye, Gollinger is recovering at Walter Reed Army Medical Center here. He keeps Wyckoff on her toes and in stitches at the same time. The two go back and forth like kin, verbally poking and picking.

Wyckoff has been on staff at the center for more than three years and has personally worked with nearly half of the amputees who've received care there. She meets them bedside when they are first brought to the center and follows them through their care -- from being wheeled into the therapy room to, hopefully, walking out on their own.

"I love it here. I love to see the fact that people improve and they get back to living a life that's meaningful to them," Wyckoff said.

Wyckoff works with seven to 10 patients daily. Some are more independent and work through much of their therapy on their own, she said.

The physical therapy room is large, white and full of commotion. Low, padded tables cut through the center of the room providing areas for patients to lie, sit, exercise or rest. Amputees at various stages of therapy go about their recovery in a deliberate, although sometimes frustrating, fashion. Some work on upper body strength with familiar exercises like push ups; others practice walking; and some get help stretching from family members.

Exercise machines are stationed for walking and biking in the physical therapy room. Peer amputee visitors mingle and encourage, and there is even a therapy dog, Troy, who drops a tennis ball at the base of patients' wheelchairs in hopes that it will get thrown and he will get to chase. Some do, some don't, but eventually Troy finds someone who is willing to give the ball a fling across the room.

During this therapy session, Gollinger literally pulled Wyckoff around the outside of the main hospital building. Using a rubber band connected to a belt at Gollinger's waist, Wyckoff held and resisted as Gollinger stepped around the building in a race against fellow amputee Army Sgt. Kevin Brown. Gollinger lost.

Using the same resistance, Gollinger followed up his loss with an indoor race against Brown, maneuvering down a row of colored cones, stopping to squat using his prosthetic leg and touching the cone with his other leg. This race he won, although Wyckoff jokingly accused him of cheating. Friendly competition keeps the therapy fun, Gollinger said.

But the exercises have purpose, each targeting specific areas and concentrating on particular elements of recovery.

The exercises in this session help with balance and confidence using the prosthetic leg, Wyckoff said.

"We want them to be able to control the knee prosthetic, while they are squatting down. They need to be able to learn to pick things up off the floor," she said.

Gollinger has served in the Army for one and a half years, and he has spent nearly half of that time at Walter Reed. Therapy wasn't always as fun for him as it is now.

"At first I was very bitter. I didn't really care. Now it's just kind of like my second home," he said.

"Medically I died twice. I'm pretty thankful to be here today at all, let alone just missing an eye and a leg. You can't really complain about that," he said.

A year-round athlete in high school, Gollinger said he joined the Army to "get out and see the world." He also hoped to get money for college and eventually play college sports.

The 20-year-old said he thought his life was over when he found out his leg was amputated. But therapy and a positive attitude turned it around for him. The New York state native said he plans to enroll in college there to become a teacher and hopes to eventually hit the athletic fields again.

"I went through a really hard time trying to adapt and find things that would interest me," he said. "I figured my life was pretty much over with as far as stuff I liked to do, but I've been reassured that, depending on how good I get, I'll be able to play softball."
Gollinger said his therapy improved when his attitude improved. "As soon as I was mentally prepared ... everything else just took off, and I've been going nowhere else but up," he said.

"How bad do you want it? I want it bad now. Before, I didn't want it bad at all. Riding a wheel chair, I figured, would be my first means of transportation," Gollinger said. "The more I see everybody else I know getting up and walking, the more I realize that I don't want to be in a wheelchair the rest of my life."

Gollinger offered simple advice to those who follow in his footsteps at the center.

"Don't wait for things to happen. Make them happen. Keep your head up. Others have been there. And we're going to help," he said.

Article sponsored by criminal justice online leadership; and, police and military personnel who have authored books.