"Fitness For Everyone"
Clinics Great Success
By Ken Woodward, CPO

Wright & Filippis hosted six "Fitness for Everyone" clinics throughout Michigan during the week of May 5, 2003, which were presented by Dennis Oehler and Todd Schaffhauser. I traveled along with Dennis and Todd to Marquette, Escanaba, Rochester Hills, Lincoln Park, and Warren. In their five days in Michigan, Dennis, Todd and I were able to host over 200 people at the "Fitness for Everyone" clinics. The presentations were held for therapists, amputees, and their families. The appreciation shown by amputees and their families was outstanding when they were able to see how amputees can enhance their quality of life through fitness.

Dennis demonstrates how to jump rope.
Dennis and Todd have fourteen years of experience teaching people advanced gait training such as stair climbing, conditioning, and running. They have taught over 7500 people worldwide to run again. The pair's experience comes from their own real-life situations — Dennis was 24 years old and only a few weeks away from signing a professional soccer contract when he was hit by a car and had his right leg amputated below the knee. Shortly after the accident, a friend took him to watch the Paralympic Games. Astounded by the elite level of competition, Dennis was determined to become a competitive athlete again. Just four years later at the 1988 Seoul Paralympics, Dennis set
a world record of 11.73 seconds in the 100-meter dash.

At the age of 15, Todd was diagnosed with bone cancer in his left leg. In order to save his life, his leg was amputated above the knee. After 18 months of chemotherapy, the cancer was in remission. Todd mastered his walking gait after being fitted with a prosthetic leg and began learning how to run. He entered his first race in 1986. By the 1988 Seoul Paralympics, Todd became the fastest above-knee amputee by running 100 meters in 15.77 seconds. At the 1995 World Games in Germany, he broke his own World Record by running 14.55 seconds.

Dennis and Todd developed this program to help amputees gain total control of their lives. The team is frustrated at the fact that the majority of amputees only receive two weeks of rehabilitation after amputation, which is simply not enough time. Dennis and Todd use simple methods to teach skills so a parent can do such things as save a child from stepping too close to a swimming pool, or to just be able to play in the yard with grandchildren.

12-year old Kelly learns
to run with the aid of a prosthetic leg.
I very much appreciate the 12-year-old female amputee with knee and hip involvement, who attended one of the clinics. She was taught to run foot over foot. Kelly, if you read this (and 'm sure you will!) congratulations on receiving your brown belt recognition! Your accomplishments are an inspiration to many others.

On the other end of the age spectrum, we worked with Lynn, an above-knee amputee in great physical shape and over 60 years of age. After a small amount of time and effort, he was able to run foot-over-foot for the first time after walking on a prosthesis for nearly 30 years.

In the future, Wright & Filippis hopes to develop its own fitness program for the amputee to enhance their quality of life. I will keep everyone updated on future developments. Any input from others is greatly appreciated. I can be contacted at 248-829-8279 or kwoodward@wright-filippis.com.