I recently published a short overview over various companies producing prosthetic covers (you find the full article here), pointing out how the recent developments in 3D printing allow people with amputations to express their individual style through by choosing the look of their artificial limbs. I then ran an interview with McCauley Wanner from the ALLELES design studio in Victoria/Canada (you find the full interview here). This mini series about prosthetic covers is continuing today with a post by the Brazilian company ID Ethnos. 

„Open to all aspiring paraclimbers, the British Mountaineering Council and Climb Scotland Paraclimbing Series is a friendly competition aimed at giving people an authentic competitive experience.“  That‘s what it says on the BMC‘s homepage.

The series is made up of four events and aims to give people with a disability  an opportunity to have a go at climbing in the competitive environment. It‘s a great format to try out something new, to meet other climbers with a handicap of one sort or another and to see some amazing climbing at a very high level. 

The first event took place at the Edinburgh International Climbing Arena in Ratho last week end. Here are some impressions fro the day.

The first paraclimbing competition is just two days away. If you have a chance, come and be there at the Edinburgh International Climbing Arena on Saturday, September 9. You won‘t be disappointed. Amazing climbing, a great atmosphere and loads of inspiration by people who have overcome immense challenges in their lives. Join us for the day. More information can be found here. 

Throw back to 2015. Some time during the summer I was browsing the internet. And by coincidence I stumbled across an article about the British Paraclimb Series. As I had been climbing for some time - on and off, nothing regular - the article caught my interest. „On Saturday, September 19, the British Mountaineering Council‘s/Mountain Council of Scotland‘s Paraclimbing Series is kicking off“, so it said. The first round was to be in the Edinburgh International Climbing Arena. And while it‘s quite a long drive to get up there, I new right away that I wanted to be there for this event. It would be a special gift to myself to celebrate my 10th anniversary as an amputee. September 19, 2005 was the last day I walked - or better limbed - around this planet on two legs. A day later I had my left leg amputated and started a new chapter in my life.

For today‘s guest blogger, 27 years of being an amputee has been a never ending journey of pushing her mind, her body and soul to be the best it can be. And she sure has done a lot of things to be proud of. So no wonder she can't wait to see what the next 27 years have in store for her. 

I recently published a short overview over various companies producing prosthetic covers (you find the full article here), pointing out how the recent developments in 3D printing allow people with amputations to express their individual style through the look of their artificial limbs. As several people expressed an interest to learn more about the choices we amputees now have, I decided to run a series of articles over the coming months, showcasing some of the companies developing and producing these stunning covers. And we kick off this series with an interview with McCauley Wanner from the ALLELES design studio in Victoria/Canada. 

My name is Yoav Gaon and I am one of the co-founders of yoocan. Yoocan is the world’s leading empowerment site for people with disabilities. In 2008, my son Erez was born with a rare disease and complex cognitive and physical disabilities. This was the beginning of an emotionally challenging journey for me, Ruthi my wife, and our family. It brought us together in many ways, but it was hard as we needed to adjust to a new way of living. Over the years we have come to do that in our own unique ways. Erez has certain limitations, but they have definitely not prevented him from living life to the fullest!

Summer is here. And with it come endless opportunities for being active in, on and around the water. While water sports are generally great fun, they are especially well suited for lower limb amputees: They offer the added advantage of the water carrying most of our weight. An advantage not to be underestimated for many amputees.

Anoushe Husain was born missing her right arm below the elbow, is living with multiple health conditions, is a cancer survivor, a Muslim and coming from an ethnic minority. She has never let what society or culture thinks she should do limit her or dictate the direction of her life. She is constantly breaking the mould and challenging not only her own beliefs about her own potential but also that of society and her own culture. In her last post we got to know her and her story. Today she tells us about how one instance of discrimination impacted on her life.

Okay so obviously I'm not an amputee. I was born without the lower part of my left arm and just as someone with two hands would learn to use two hands I have learned to use one. It‘s all I've ever known and therefore I wouldn't allow myself to be phased by any tasks that someone with two hands might achieve.

Fay Keegan was only eleven years old when she was involved in a train accident that crushed her foot. After more than four decades in which she battled feelings of denial, anger, grief and loss, Fay decided to say goodbye to her foot and start anew. Read all about her long journey in an article that was first published in Great Walks, October–November 2014.

No more excuses not to be active as an amputee. There are plenty of opportunities for amputees to be active, to get involved and try out something new this summer. Besides the big events for professionals, there are more and more taster sessions for amputees offering a safe and encouraging environment to have a go at a new activity.

You want to make yourself stronger, improve your adaptability and raise your stress threshold? Yes, but how can that be done in a safe and dosed manner? Who has the right expertise and experience to help you with this? Not only physically, but especially mentally and emotionally? Three time cancer survivor Michael Robbert Brans found the right challenge for himself: The Unbreakable.

I guess most of you still remember the days when artificial limbs - generally speaking - were ugly. Designed for function, not for style. They were off the shelf models with a standard look. While many prosthetists offered some sort of cover or another, more often than not they tried to imitate the look of the remaining limb. And often, very often, it wasn‘t even a good imitation. 

Though he was born without a left forearm and hand, Tony Memmel taught himself to play the guitar by building a homemade cast out of Gorilla Tape that secures a guitar pick to his arm, and allows him to pluck and strum the strings.

Joanna lost her leg in a mountaineering accident. She has what is called a Chopart amputation. That means that she has retained a load- bearing heel bone and heel pad. However, due to a needed shortening her amputation presents as a Symes (which is an amputation through the heel bone). Joanna can walk short distances without a prosthesis. Only a few years after her accident, Joanna is expecting her first child. In this personal article she shares her experience of being pregnant while still getting used to her new life as an amputee.

Daily activities can be a little bit challenging when you’re missing a leg. Now add the weight of a pack, and varying elevations on uneven terrain out in the mountains and you are definitely going to see how not graceful I am. But so what? This post is going to talk about how to get outdoors and see these beautiful places even as an amputee.

My name is Liam Twomey. I am a 23 year old from Melbourne/Australia. I grew up in a great family with my Mum, Dad and older brother. It was all great until I was diagnosed with a Ewing sarcoma in my right tibia when I was age seven. My life was turned upside down, although at that age I was still quite unaware of what was happening. I wasn’t able to see the severity of my situation and what was to come.

I’m a woman, born missing my right arm below the elbow, a Muslim and have a few invisible health issues. None of that matters. What matters is how I choose to live my life.

April was Limb Loss Awareness Month. And it was the month that more and more bitmojis for people with limb differences started showing up. Hedgehog1171, as he is known on Instagram and other social media platforms, is one of the creators of a variety of the small icons. A student from Wales, hedgehog1171 has just posted picture #100 on his feed. And he was so kind to send us a few to use on The Active Amputee. Thanks! 

You are an amputee? You think about getting into cycling? But you just don‘t know how to start? Maybe you are even a bit fearful that as an amputee cycling is now off-limits for you? Well, then Sonia Sanghani‘s Stumps and Cranks - An Introduction to Amputee Cycling is just the right book for you. 

During a recent visit to India, a friend of mine mentioned Malvika Iyer. A bomb blast survivor in her teens, Malvika is now a well-known motivational speaker and disability rights activist. He offered to introduce me to her and shortly afterwards I had the pleasure to get to know her during a phone interview. Right from the moment our Skype connection was live, I felt that Malvika is someone with an immense spirit and an almost unbreakable will. Here is her inspirational story.

Adenike Oyetunde is a lawyer and radio presenter from Nigeria‘s economic and cultural powerhouse Lagos. She lost one of her legs due to bone cancer when she was in her early twenties. Adenike, always full of ideas, recently founded Amputees United, an initiative to assist cancer patients and amputees. "I want to help them wade through the storm, because honestly, I went through this, that I may help them on their journey. We at the Amputees United Initiative would love to help them come to terms with their new reality."

Losing both legs is a major challenge for any person. Even more so when you are a circus artist. Erin Ball struggled hard until embracing her new reality led to a fireworks of creativity. Her amputations are now an integral part of her show.

Our constant focus on the latest prosthetic developments coupled with our aspirations to get the latest high-end products on the market lets us forget one important aspect: The prosthesis is only as good as the system by which it is connected to the human body. 

Raising awareness about people with limb differences and the issues they are struggling with needs to happen on all fronts. And all of us can play a role in it.

Joanna describes her very own ways of dealing with stump pain. Chemical painkillers are only a last resort.

Yes, there are times when I think that it just sucks being an above-the-knee amputee. Obviously. And often this feeling creeps up on me when I am around my kids (three lovely kids, the youngest one is almost five, the other two are eleven and fourteen). When I want to do things with them and have the feeling that my amputation sets unwanted limits. When the fact that I have an artificial leg seems to dictate what I can and cannot do with them. 

Part I of my journey was all about my cancer year; the year from the diagnosis with an osteosarcoma through the major surgery to remove almost all of my tibia and replace it with an endoprosthesis to the end of the chemotherapy.

Part II was all about my road to recovery; several inter-connected journeys that allowed me to get fit again and regain confidence in what I can physically do. During this time I had spent longer stretches in the United States of America, in South Africa and in Uganda.

Part I of my journey was all about my cancer year; the year from the diagnosis with an osteosarcoma through the major surgery to remove almost all of my tibia and replace it with an endoprosthesis to the end of the chemotherapy. Today‘s story is all about my road to recovery. 

My journey to being an amputee has been a long one, in several stages, drawn out over almost two decades. In this first part, read about how it all began: A bit of pain in the knee, a cancer diagnosis, a year-long fight.