The Star Beacon; Ashtabula, Ohio

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Prosthetics firm to present program

GENEVA — Kevin Malloy will share the story of his struggle, his decision to have his right leg amputated and his journey to health and wellness on Feb. 23 at the Geneva Shores Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitiation Center on West Main Street.
Representatives from Hanger Prosthetics and Orthodontics will present the program “Advancements in Lower Extremity Prosthetics,” with a cocktail hour at 4 p.m. and the presentation at 5 p.m.
Hanger Prosthetics’ equipment was featured in the movie “Dolphin Tale,” a story about Winter, a bottlenose dolphin, who lost her tail in a crab trap.
The company also made prosthetics for Aron Ralston, a mountain climber amputated his lower right arm with a dull knife in 2003 to free himself from a fallen boulder. Ralson’s story is also a movie “127 Hours.”
 

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  • MARGIE NETZEL / Star Beacon KEVIN MALLOY walks on his new leg at the Geneva Shores Nursing and Rehabilitation Center.

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February 6, 2012

Amputee takes one step at time

By MARGIE NETZEL - mnetzel@starbeacon.com Star Beacon

GENEVA —  With measured breaths, Kevin Malloy stood up and began to walk.

One step, then another — from his chair at Geneva Shores Nursing and Rehabilitation Center and down the long hallway, out the front door and to his car.

Each step was a success, a tangible piece of evidence proving he made it — after four years of struggles, the loss of his mobility and eventually the amputation of his right leg, Malloy was walking toward his future on Friday. He was going home.

He was walking.

Malloy, 43, of Ashtabula said he could see his past in every step, he could feel the struggle and let it all go for the sake of a happy tomorrow.

“I look at my leg and to me the amputation ended up to be one of the best things that could have happened,” he said. “It sounds weird to say that, to say that losing a limb was the best thing — but it really changed my life.”

Malloy’s troubles started four years ago when he came in from playing with his children and noticed a small pain in his right foot. Some swelling followed, along with some aching.

“I didn’t think anything of it,” he said.

By 2008 the pain was out of control.

“Then I got a sore on the bottom of my foot that would not heal,” he said. “In June 2011 I fell. I just heard something pop inside my leg.”

A diabetic, Malloy was diagnosed with charcot (pronounced sharko) foot. The disease caused severe weakening of the bones in his foot along with significant nerve damage.

“The charcot was deteriorating my bones to the point that it only left the toes and the ankle bones. Everything else was fused together. By October, I had a massive infection and I knew something had to be done,” he said.

Malloy knew amputation was the answer, but that didn’t make the decision to lose his leg any easier.

“By November I had made my decision,” Malloy said. “I was 42 years old and I couldn’t play with my children. I had been very active in Boy Scouts and I couldn’t go anywhere or participate in any of my children’s activities. I was going stir crazy. Being confined to that wheelchair was the hardest thing for me. I felt like I was letting everyone down.”

Malloy said his decision was driven by his family — wife Carrie and children Jacob, 5; Becca, 6; Nicholas, 7; Jonathan, 9; and Mason, 10.

“The minute I woke up from my surgery I said, ‘Get me on my feet. I am ready to walk,’” he said.

But Malloy was still shy a leg and he needed to choose some hardware. After a lot of “shopping,” he chose a prosthetic by Hanger Prosthetics — the same company featured in the movie “Dolphin Tale.”

“It was so cool,” he said. “I didn’t even realize it was the same company, but I knew I wanted the best prosthetic I could get and so this is the one I chose.”

The first steps weren’t easy, he said, but each one gave Malloy hope.

“I improved every single day,” he said. “Every single day I was walking more and more. I had no pain, no depression. I have been focused and now I feel like I can do anything. I am stronger now than I have ever been.”

Now Malloy is on his feet and ready for adventure.

But his biggest goal is to walk through the new Greater Cleveland Greater Cleveland Aquarium  with his children.

 

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