Amputee makes US Track Team

Yahoo has an inspiring article today about Amy Palmiero-Winters, a mom, ultra-runner and leg amputee who recently made the US national track and field team.

Palmiero-Winters had run her first marathons in the months before her accident. After the amputation, she set out on a path that's taken her through countless marathons (her personal-best finish is 3 hours, 4 minutes, 16 seconds), triathlons, Ironman triathlons and, in the last two years, some of the world's most extreme races.

She competed in 10 ultra-distance races last year, including the Heartland 100 Mile, where she finished first among women.

"She's just built for them," Hatzo says. "She can run forever."

Only in recent years has Palmiero-Winters had prosthetic limbs built to match her ambitions. She heard about Erik Schaffer, owner of A Step Ahead Prosthetics (ASAP) in Hicksville, at a race, and three years ago she quit her job as a welder in Meadville and moved to Hicksville to train and work for him. He provides her running blades, which can cost at least $25,000 each.

She is sports program director at ASAP, where the motto is "Live Life Without Limitations," helping clients that range from small children to elite athletes imagine and reach their athletic goals.

She says if she could "rub the magic genie lamp and take it all away and have my leg back, I wouldn't. Because my life is much better the way it is."

This woman has some real guts!  Read the article here.