Lower Limb Amputee from Maryland Chosen to Compete on National Televsion for $250,000 Golf Challenge Prize
MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA May 24, 2006 - After being critically injured and losing his left leg above the knee in a 2001 motorcycle accident while vacationing thousands of miles from home in New Zealand, Berlin, MD, resident Rick Weber thought he’d faced enough challenges for a lifetime. But when he auditioned for and was chosen from over a thousand hopefuls to participate in Golf Magazine’s first-ever reality show for a grand prize of $250,000, he figured he could face one more.
During the show’s taping last month, Rick was one of 29 average golfers who headed onto the course at The Links at Lighthouse Sound in Ocean City to attempt to par nine consecutive holes, each with an increasing monetary value. Pressure grew as each player had to make the choice of continuing after shooting par on a hole and keeping the money they had won ($1,000, $2,500, $5,000, etc.) or to continue on and risk losing it all.
As someone with lower limb loss, Rick faces unique challenges every time he steps onto a golf course, and he credits his high-tech, computer-controlled C-Leg® made by Minneapolis, MN-based Otto Bock HealthCare for making it possible for him to continue the activities he loves.
The C-Leg is revolutionary technology, using on-board sensors and microprocessors to anticipate and respond to a user’s movement 50 times per second. It immediately adjusts to changes in walking speed and direction and provides knee stability the moment it is needed. These features allow users to walk down stairs and ramps and maneuver rough terrain without the fear of falling.
One user even credits the C-Leg with saving his life as the limb enabled him to quickly negotiate 70 flights of stairs and escape before the collapse of the World Trade Center towers on 9/11; another recently returned to flying for the air force as a Special Air Missions pilot at Andrews Air Force Base, making Department of Defense history as the first above-knee amputee to fly for the military. The C-Leg is also a recognized standard of care at Walter Reed Army Medical Center for injured military personnel returning from overseas.
Rick agrees the C-Leg is life-changing, whether he’s in his busy work environment as a restaurant manager or golfing for a national television show that will be seen by millions.
“The confidence and stability I have with the C-Leg – it just makes all this possible. You’re not going to believe the show when you see it!”
Established in 1958, Minneapolis, Minnesota-based Otto Bock HealthCare LLP is the North and South American corporate headquarters of Otto Bock Healthcare, GmbH, based in Duderstadt, Germany. Otto Bock has more than 3,500 employees worldwide and produces over 20,000 types of prosthetic and orthotic components, rehabilitation products and technical plastics, and also provides information technology services.
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