According to the Centers for Disease Control, approximately 1 in 4 adults live with a disability. That could mean hundreds of thousands of Idahoans enduring the difficulties of not being entirely mobile.
Modern science may give them some amount of hope with engineered prosthetics. But how about those individuals who are, or yearn to be, athletes.
“Typically, if you’re leg is to be amputated, you’re given a prosthetic leg. And that may be great for walking, but it’s certainly not good if you want to run a race, want to go hiking, or ride a bike,” said filmmaker and tennis player Marci Krown. “Insurance companies would think, ‘Well, it not a necessity. All you need is a basic leg.’ And that’s not true. It’s actually discrimination.”
Now, there’s a good deal more conversation about making athletic prosthetics available to more men, women and children.
“You can’t run a race in a regular walking leg or walking foot. You can’t do that,” she said. “You’re going to injure yourself.”
But this week, the Challenged Athletes Foundation (CAF) is partnering with the American Amputee Soccer Association (AASA) to bring the first-ever CAF amputee soccer clinic to the Boise area. The clinic is for all abilities and is designed to swing open the doors for more Idaho amputees.
The clinic is set for Saturday, May 10 at Dona Larsen Park in Boise; and the night before, Krown’s film, “Power of Sport for Amputees,” will be showcased at the Idaho Outdoor Fieldhouse on E. Barber Valley Drive in Boise.
Krown visited with Morning Edition host George Prentice to talk about her film, the clinic and the need to open more of those doors.
Find reporter George Prentice @georgepren
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