HiPerAmp

I've been an amputee (BK) since age 18.  I was born with a club foot, and as I got older and heavier I could no longer do what I wanted, and so I elected to have the surgery (more on that in another post).  In the ensuing years I have endured the struggles of finding a decent prosthetist (which makes a HUGE difference), and dealing with what was some pretty old technology.  But the entire time I was dedicated, as many of us are, to living a no limit life.  I'll admit that my prosthesis was holding me back, and I found that annoying.

I then met John Zenie at Comprehensive Prosthetics in Branford CT through a friend.  Walking into his office was unlike the experiences I'd had in the past.  Let's be honest, most prosthetic/orthotics shops are just plain depressing!  I understand that many amputees are on a downward slide because of degenerative diseases like diabetes, but I am definitely not in that boat.  John works with atheletes.  He understands that there are those of us looking for performance.  We view our prostheses like we do our bikes, give me something light, strong, with good energy return.  Give me carbon-fiber, titanium, aluminum, gas-filled pressurized shocks!  Working with John is a great experience, and when I first tried out the new leg he made,  it was like driving a Porsche after having driven Buicks my entire life.

So I started HiPerAmp because I know we're out there, and that there are more of us all the time.  Technology has advanced to the point where being an amputee is actually pretty fun (in a hard-corp kind of way).  I frequently say to John, "cool, now let me see if I can go bust it".  I realized that being a High-Performance Amputee (a HiPerAmp) means solving lots of little problems, like "is it better to snowboard with your amp-leg in front of in back?" (I think it might be different for BKs versus AKs), "how can I use grip-shifters when I mountain bike if I'm an AE arm-amp?" and every possible combination. I know I've worked some things out that I'd like to share, and I'm sure every other HiPerAmp has as well.

I created this site so that we could help each other, push each other, teach, learn, share, and be as hard-corp as we want to be.  I created this site to end any stigma, because being a HiPerAmp is inspirational, and not just to other amputees.  One of my favorite things is play tennis next to non-amps.  When they see me serve and charge the net (accelerating all the way), I can see them pick up their own game.  They're thinking "jeez, that's intense, why am I doggin' it?"

That's my goal,  come join in, and get HiPer!