The cost of double-sided business cards was discussed and found to be prohibitive.We will stick with the original business cards with the other local support groups listed.Betty Bernat is going to try and find a local organization that will pay for the cards for a “one-liner” added to the card.Betty also stressed the need for members to take our brochures to their medical appointments and pass them out - she noted great success when Helmut was taking rehab at Mount Vernon.

We had one potential amputee and one new amputee at the meeting.So they had the floor for questions and answers after roll call and the business meeting.

News and Announcements

Arm Amputees (Upper Extremity) Wanted – I received a call from a Social Working in Arlington who is working with a 14-year-old arm amputee due to electrocution.He is mostly Spanish speaking.He needs a mentor or someone to talk too with a similar amputation and is supposed to be attending the June meeting.So we need our arm amputees to try and attend next month’s meeting.Thanks!

Doonesbury - Did everyone catch the Doonesbury strip?If not, here it is.

Services and Products

ASGNVA Lending Library – Jason Bulger, Marketing Representative from Nascott Rehabilitation Services, attends all the amputee support meetings in the Washington Metropolitan area and really helps out and pitches in with our group all the time.But, since he works for Nascott, it’s a little tricky what he can and cannot do for ASGNVA.But he can give time and muscles.So he has volunteered to be our librarian (yeah, Jason).At the May meeting, he received a box of materials and books that have been acquired by ASGNVA.As an amputee, I don’t want to carry that box around – I’ll keep adding to it as I find things and receive items from different organizations, but I don’t want to ever carry the whole entire box.But Jason doesn’t mind – he’s young and strong.So now we have a lending library and here’s what’s in it so far:

·Amputee Coalition of America Print and Video Resources – 2004 Edition

·Surviving Limb Loss – A series of pamphlets, developed by the Landmine Survivors Network, a leading global advocate for persons with limb loss.

·Legal Rights of the Catastrophically Ill and Injured:A Family Guide, Second Edition, Joseph L. Romano, Attorney and Counselor at Law, 1998

·Physical Fitness:A Guide for Individuals with Lower Limb Loss, Department of Veterans Affairs, Rehabilitation Research and Development Service, A Clinical Guide by Ernest M. Burgess, M.D. and Albert Rappoport, C.P.

·The Commonwealth of Virginia Roadmap to Services – A resource guide for people with disabilities, long term illnesses, and the elderly

If you want to look at any of the materials, you have to come to a meeting.Jason already attends meetings all the time.Now he’ll be extra careful to make it to meetings.Or you can contact him on the Nascott web site:www.nascott.com - he’s done a very good job on it so far.Check it out – books and web site!

Member Updates 

Deborah Levine – It is with a heavy heart that I regret to inform you that Deborah Levine of the Endependence Center of Northern Virginia passed away on Friday, April 2, 2004.Deborah was extremely active with our group and helped us research and document the Resource List and Frequently Asked Questions sections of our New Amputee Information Packet.She was always available, anytime I called her, to assist an amputee, in any way that she could.She was a wonderful and powerful woman and will be greatly missed.

Paula Golladay – Paula had to undergo a recent amputation – she had a TMA performed on her right foot.A TMA, or Transmetatarsal Amputation is through the tarsal (tarsus) or foot bones.She is already a below knee on the left side.But she came to the meeting in a wheelchair and had a very fluffy dressing.

Scheduled Events

NAGA’S “First Swing” Seminar and “Learn to Golf” Clinic – Sponsored and presented by the National Amputee Golf Association, PGA and DAV; Hosted by US Orthotics and Prosthetics.This event is free for all individuals with disabilities!Golfers of all ages and all types of disabilities are invited.Registration is required.

‰Place:Fredericksburg, VA, Cannon Ridge Golf Club

‰Wednesday, June 2, 2004 – Training Seminar for Rehab Professionals and Golf Pros, 8:30 am – 12:00

‰Wednesday, June 2, 2004 – “Learn to Golf” Clinic for Golfers with Disabilities, Rehab Therapists and Golf Pros, 12:30 pm – 3:00 pm

‰For More Information:Greg Wright, CP, US Orthotics & Prosthetics, 30 Town & Country Dr., Suite 103, Fredericksburg, VA, 22405, 800-333-4102, gwright011@aol.com.

Home Modification Seminar & Product Expo, May 25-26, Arlington County, RPJ Housing, other agencies and non-profits are hosting a Home Modification Seminar & Product Expo on May 25 and 26 at the Arlington Department of Human Services, 3033 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington.To download a registration form or for more information, go to www.rpjhousing.org.Pre-registration is required; $10 fee to attend the conference, which includes lunch, but a limited number of scholarships are available. 

The Amputee Coalition of America’s 2004 Annual Conference and Exposition in Nashville is rapidly approaching! Sign up now for “Early-Bird” registration and save $$$.And rooms are going fast!For more information, please call 1-888/267-5669.

Area Access Open House – Area Access will be holding an “Open House” on May 20-22, 2004.This is an opportunity to get your scooter cleaned and serviced for free.They will have lots of prizes such as:

ðLeisure life electric scooter, Pride seat lift chair, Bruno truck lift, 4 wheel walker from Clarke Healthcare,3-foot ramp from Homecare Products, 8 scooter batteries from MK Battery, 2 $100 store credits from Area Access, 4 $50 store credits from Area Access.

During the open house they are offering free service on scooters:

ðCheck tire pressure, Adjust and lubricate chain and belts, Test battery, Inspect all connections and structural components and Inspect trunk lift, if requested.

Area Access is also offering 20% off on all parts and accessories and batteries are specially prices at $75 each.

In addition, there will be free burgers and dogs on the grill, snacks, refreshments and much more.Here are the hours and directions for the Open House.

ŽDate:May 20-21May 22

ŽTime:9:00 am to 3:00 pm9:00 am to 2:00 pm

ŽWhere:7131 Gateway Court, Manassas, Virginia

ŽDirections:Take exit 47A (Rt. 234 Business South) from Route 66.Go to the light at Balls Ford Road and turn left.Continue 1.2 miles to Gateway Court and turn right.Area Access will be directly in front on you.

Monthly Meeting – The next monthly meeting is June 1, 2004.

 

May
						1
2 Helmut Bernat	3	4ASGNVA Meeting	5	6 Joan Pressler	7	8
9 Mother’s Day	10	11  ”Winchester ASG ” Kessler ASG  ”Fredericksburg ASG	12 Jeff Schaffer	13 Joyce Hawes	14	15 William Carter
16	17	18 Roby Sheppard  WAA Meeting	19	20	21	22
23	24 Charles Gordon	25 Patrick Roland	26	27 Georgetown ASG	28	29
30 Minor Twymann	31 Memorial Day	1 ASGNVA Meeting	2	3	4	5
June
		1 ASGNVA Meeting	2	3 Abdelgani Hamid	4	5
6	7	8  ”Winchester ASG ”Kessler ASG  ”Fredericksburg ASG	9	10	11 Paula Golladay	12
13	14	15  WAA Meeting	16 Brenda Blake	17	18	19 Chuck Rattman
20 Bud Atchison	21	22	23	24 Georgetown ASG Meeting	25	26
27	28	29	30

Washington Amputee Association– National Rehabilitation Hospital, 102 Irving Street, NW, Washington, DC, Ground Floor Dining Room (rear section, near the windows and behind the partition), 3^RD Tuesday of each month from 6:30-8:30 pm.Contact Roy Dwyer (301-897-2816), Angela Jones (301-794-0183) or Becky Lehman, RT/NRH, 202-877-1578, rebekahlehman@juno.com 

Georgetown University Hospital– 4^TH Thursday of every month, 7:30-9:00 pm, Martin Marietta Conference Room, Lombardi Cancer Center, Entrance 1 (park in the Levey Center; handicap parking available; transit access can drop off/pick up at this location. Call 202-444-8037 and leave a message.

Kessler Adventist Group– Second Thursday of the month, 6:00-8:00 pm, 2nd floor, Kessler Adventist Rehabilitation Hospital, 9909 Medical Center Dr, Rockville, MD.Contact Sandy Shadea, 240-864-6196.

Kernan Hospital Group – 3^rd Wednesday of the month, 6:00-8:00 pm, Room G604, Kernan Hospital, 2200 Kernan Dr., Gwynn Oak, MD.Contact Mark Senker at 410-581-7027 for more information.

Winchester Amputee Support Group – 2^nd Tuesday of the month, 5:30-6:30 pm, Conference Room, 2^nd floor, Winchester Rehabilitation Center, 333 W. Cork St, Winchester, VA.Contact Christie Augustine, 540-536-5113.

Fredericsksburg Amputee Support Group – 2^nd Tuesday of the month, 7:00-9:00 pm, the disAbility Resource Center, 409 Progress Street, Fredericksburg, VA.Contact Greg Wright, 540-899-2655 or 800-333-4102.

Animals Offer Independence For So Many With Disabilities

For Andy the black Lab, slipping on a blue pack is the same as punching a time clock.It means it's time for work. His pack conveys the same message to others. It reads: "Please Don't Pet Me, I'm Working."

Five days a week, Andy assists Anne Sullivan, the office manager at the disAbility Resource Center in Fredericksburg. He picks up paper clips, bottle caps or any other objects Sullivan drops and can't reach from her wheelchair.He also gets files or books that are buried deep in cabinets.

"He makes me more independent," said Sullivan. "Before, I was forever asking somebody to get something for me, and I like being able to do things for myself."

Andy originally was the service dog for Rob Boyd, the center's executive director. He hoped Andy would help with his balance as he used a walker.

When that didn't work out, Sullivan gave him a try. She doesn't have room for him at her house, so Andy takes off his pack on nights and weekends and goes home with office administrator Karen McDowell.

Sullivan didn't know how useful Andy could be. "He's proved to me that a service dog is the best thing for a person with a disability," she said.

Studies show service dogs can save their owners thousands of dollars by eliminating the need for paid human help. 

A 1996 report in the Journal of the American Medical Association considered the initial cost of training a service dog--which can run as high as $10,000--and the annual expenses of food and veterinary bills.Then it factored how much a disabled person paid for human help, from $8 to $12 an hour. Having a service dog around could save $8,000 to $16,000 a year, the study indicated.

More people are acknowledging the value of service animals, especially as they assist with more kinds of disabilities.

There are currently five categories of service dogs, according to the Delta Society, an organization in Washington State.

Guide dogs help the blind, and hearing dogs assist those who are deaf or hearing impaired.

Mobility dogs help people with physical disabilities in varied ways. They may open doors, turn on lights, and help their owners get dressed or retrieve objects.

Medical-alert dogs sense on-coming conditions in their masters, such as seizures, heart attacks or diabetic reactions.

Psychiatric-support dogs are the newest type of service animals. They help owners who may be afraid to go out in public by shielding them from others or nuzzling them when they freeze during a panic attack. 

Dogs are mostly used as service animals, but cats and certain types of monkeys have also been trained for specific tasks. There are even miniature horses that offer the same help as Seeing Eye dogs.

SERVICE DOGS are animals trained to help their disabled owners, and not all of them are the size of German shepherds.

Some are no bigger than powder puffs, but they still have a huge impact on their owners.

"I'd be lost without Peanut," said Nanci Seiden, who lives in Aquia Harbour in North Stafford. "I just depend on him a lot, in ways people don't understand."

Peanut is a four-pound Pomeranian with dark brown eyes and fiery-colored fur about the same shade as his owner's hair.

He's also a hearing aid to his master, who was born deaf in one ear and has limited hearing in the other.

So, Peanut the Pomeranian barks or bounces around on spindly legs to let Seiden know when the phone rings or someone is at the door. He licks her face or pats his paw on her cheek if the alarm or smoke detector goes off and she doesn't react.

Peanut is one of an estimated 20,000 animals across the country trained to perform specific tasks for their disabled owners. But he doesn't fit the typical image - that of a guide dog for the blind or a large Labrador assigned to someone in a wheelchair.

Maybe that's why he and Seiden, 49, attract a lot of attention. Much of it is friendly, as women and children point to the "cute widdle puppy."

Some of it is not so good.

Owners of local discount stores and groceries have detained Seiden at service desks or told her she can't take her pet where food is prepared and sold. Fellow restaurant customers have complained about having a dog at the table next to them. A passenger train in California put her off at a depot--a no-longer-open depot in an isolated part of town--because she refused to keep Peanut in a cage or in the compartment designated for pets.

These days, Seiden shows her certificate, which states Peanut is a trained service dog. She tries to explain that people and their service animals are allowed anywhere other customers go, under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

And she gets frustrated with employees and managers who deal with the public every day and don't know the law. She's called the corporate headquarters of several businesses and is considering a lawsuit against one.

"My whole thing is, excuse me, why aren't these people, who are working in the service industry, being trained properly?"

Seiden admits she gets flustered because the service-dog issue is one more thing she has to battle. 

She suffers from reflex sympathetic dystrophy syndrome, a condition triggered by a simple accident, such as a twisted ankle or broken arm. It causes a short circuit in the nervous system, then spreads throughout the body, bringing on chronic pain.

Seiden sometimes has trouble with the aches--and the pain of having to define Peanut's role to others. 

The disabilities act says she doesn't have to do any explaining or show any proof of the dog's training. All business owners can do is ask if the dog is a service animal.

Beyond the hearing-related help at home, Peanut provides a lot of comfort to Seiden, said her friend, Sharon Nuzman of North Stafford. 

Nuzman, who is physically disabled, has been around service animals for 30 years and has never seen this kind of relationship between dog and master.

"This dog lives, breathes and sleeps her needs," she said. "Sometimes it's just a level of comfort that he brings. She does not deal well when he is not with her."

That's why Seiden takes Peanut to the hair salon, grocery store or pharmacy at Wal-Mart, where she buys hundreds of dollars in medicine a month.

She's been in North Stafford for six years, and people at most of her regular stops recognize her. A hairdresser at Impressions Hair Skin & Nails in Aquia Towne Center recently pointed to the dog in Seiden's arms and said to a customer, "That's Peanut. He brings Nanci in every week to get her hair done."

It's when stores open, expand or change management that Seiden has problems.

But people with service dogs face access issues across the country, said Karen Miller. She's a director at Delta Society, an organization in Washington State that educates the public about the role of service animals.

Her agency gets more than 5,000 complaints a year from disabled people who have been told they can't bring their dogs into public places.

People have a particularly hard time accepting ones that don't fit the big-dog stereotype.

"If you showed up with a Pomeranian, and you didn't look like you were blind, and you said, 'This is my service dog,' people would probably laugh at you," Miller said.

The disabilities act passed 12 years ago, but it's still not widely known, she said. 

Things get even more confusing when state laws say one thing and the disabilities act, which is a federal law, says another.

For instance, the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services regulates state food laws. In its written regulations for retail food stores, there's only one line about service animals. It reads: "Guide dogs accompanying blind persons shall be permitted in sales areas."

So a store manager could assume that Pomeranians like Peanut, as well as every other service animal except guide dogs, are not allowed in food stores.

That's not correct, either, a department spokesperson said. The department allows all types of service animals in stores; it just hasn't updated its regulations since 1986.

Seiden would like to clear things up for state agencies and businesses that are behind the times. She'd like them to realize that the Americans with Disabilities Act takes priority over local or state laws.

Seiden also wishes that businesses would react the way the management did at North Stafford's International House of Pancakes.

Seiden had a bad experience there in January. Customers complained because Peanut was at the table, and waiters were rude to her, she said.

She got in touch with Stephen Bennett, director of operations at several stores. He knew many details of the disabilities act, such as the size and location of handicapped parking spaces.

But he didn't realize there were service animals beyond Seeing Eye dogs. He talked with Seiden several times and welcomed her suggestion to meet with store management.

Seiden, a corporate manager before she went on disability in 1992, will give a seminar to IHOP employees in November. She'll present educational materials from the Delta Society about the types and tasks of service animals.

She's made the same offer to managers in other local businesses, but they've declined.

She'll keep pushing the issue, not just for herself and Peanut but also for others who may not want to call attention to their disability. "I guess I don't want anyone else to go through what I've had to," she said.

Retrieving a book that he has dropped or getting through a door before it slams against his motorized wheelchair can be tough.

"I need some help; I really do," the 66-year-old Unionville man says.

Mager, a Vietnam War veteran and career Army man, is hoping that help will come from a black Labrador retriever named Chico.

"I've spent some time with him and he's a well-trained dog," Mager says.

Chico, who just turned 2, is completing his schooling and should be ready by the end of the year. Mager is hoping he can raise enough money between now and then to buy the Lab as both a companion and a helper.

Chico is being trained by a nonprofit organization called Service Dogs of Virginia. Located in Keswick, near Charlottesville, the group headed by Peggy Law provides dogs specifically trained to help disabled people.

"Our dogs help them live a full life," Law says.

Service Dogs of Virginia, which began about two years ago, placed its first dog several months ago with a disabled Radford University student. Chico will be the group's second dog.

"This dog would be very important to me," Mager says. "It is sometimes very difficult to even open and close doors, especially commercial doors. A dog could keep the door open until I get in."

Law says Chico is able to retrieve a telephone, turn on a light or even stand on his hind legs and place money on a store counter. These are all tasks a healthy person takes for granted, but ones a man strapped into a wheelchair often finds overwhelming.

To get Chico, however, Mager must come up with $8,500. That's a lot for someone on a military pension.

The Piedmont Chapter of the Vietnam Veterans of America found out about Mager and is trying to help. They have held one fund-raiser on his behalf and hope to hold more.

"It just seemed like the right thing to do," says Sam Thompson, president and one of the founders of the chapter.

Thompson has also put Mager in touch with the Paralyzed Veterans of America and that group is trying to help, too.

If Mager gets Chico, he and the Lab will still need two or more weeks of working together before they will be ready to perform as a team. Keswick, however, is less than an hour's drive from Unionville, and Mager feels he can handle that.

Mager was drafted when he was 25. "My father-in-law was on the draft board and when my wife and I split up he made sure they got me," he says.

He spent 21 years in the Army before a stroke forced him to retire in 1982.

Poor circulation necessitated the removal of both legs about a year ago. Now the vet, who served in the Delta region of Vietnam in 1969, often finds himself at the mercy of his surroundings. 

Thompson believes Mager's exposure to Agent Orange during his stint in Vietnam may have been responsible for his circulation problem.

Mager is not married, but a female companion helps him at night. While she is at work, however, Mager is alone in his home.

Chico, who began training as a puppy, is now in the final stages of schooling. But training is only part of the process, Law says.

"We also have to wait until the dog becomes mature and reliable," she says.

Law says that a service dog can be more than just a companion and a helper.

"Sometimes people feel awkward about going up and talking to someone in a wheelchair, but everyone wants to come and pet the dog," she says. "A dog like Chico can help break the ice."

	SERVICE DOG ORGANIZATIONS

Blue Ridge Assistance DogsProvides service dogs for people with

8620 Smith Lanedisabilities and social therapy dogs.

Manassas, Virginia 20112(703)369-5878 or (703)591-1185

P.O. Box 334people with special needs using positive

Sykesville, MD 21117reinforcement training approach.Will

(410)655-2858train owner's dog if it passes evaluation.

Debbie Gavelek(410) 880-4178, TTY: (301)570-7570

P.O. Box 5508Email: fidos@fidosforfreedom.org 

Laurel, MD 20726 

4783 Turkey Sag Roadwheelchairs.

Keswick, VA 22947(434) 975-3770

Email: plaw@cstone.net

Support Offered For Amputees

Local amputees to start a support group in Fredericksburg

By RACHELLE STIGER

Date published: 3/7/2004 

Local prosthetist Greg Wright told members of his new amputee support group he will take them skydiving, roller-skating, swimming or running if that's what they want to do.

Wright is aiming to "show the amputee population the amazing ability of an amputee as opposed to the disability" through the newly formed Fredericksburg Area Amputee Support Team.

FAAST is Wright's second attempt to get amputees together. This time it will be successful, Wright said, because people are attending the meetings and seem more dedicated to the group. He's tried so hard to get a group going because a lot of people through the years have come to him about it. "It was calling me. I couldn't not do it; it was becoming my mission," Wright said.

In his 14 years as a prosthetist, Wright has been astounded at how easily amputees bounce back from their losses to do things they did before the amputation, things like ride a motorcycle. The key is maintaining a positive attitude, said Wright, who in his own work with amputees tries to keep clients from thinking about their lost limb. 

"I could build a bionic leg, but you won't walk on it if you don't want to," Wright said. "You could walk on a bucket and a broomstick."

Wright hopes the group will be a referral resource for doctors and an inspiration to new amputees.

While an amputee patient is still in the hospital, FAAST will send one of its members with similar injuries to talk to him or her. This summer, members of the group will be certified as peer counselors.

Every new amputee who has spoken to a more experienced amputee comes out of the hospital more positive about his future and more likely to walk again or do the things he wants.

Before FAAST, the closest amputee support groups were in Richmond and Northern Virginia. Wright estimates that amputees in the area number in the hundreds. Most have lost a limb to peripheral vascular disease, or poor circulation, and injuries that don't heal because of diabetes. Right now, the group consists only of lower-body amputees, but all are welcome.

Still in its infancy, the group has been meeting once a month since December. They have already gone bowling once, and have scheduled a golf clinic in June with Professional Golfing Association members under the Eastern Amputee Golf Association.

Jim Brothers believes "humor makes people feel comfortable [with my disability], especially kids."

So he tells jokes like this one: If I lost two feet, he asks people, shouldn't I be 4 feet, 4 inches tall?

Before he lost both legs to infections spurred by diabetes, Brothers measured 6 feet, 4 inches.

He bets other men that he can lose 10 pounds in five minutes. The legs come off, and, voilà, he's 10 pounds lighter. 

And he occasionally puts his leg on backwards.

Once at a wedding, a man noticed the mistake and politely called Brothers' attention to it. "I just don't know if I'm coming or going," Brothers told the man.

It would seem his humor is also the way Brothers copes with his loss.

He takes in stride things like falling in the shower and waiting four hours for someone to find him; stepping out of bed in the middle of the night to be awakened by his own body crashing on the floor and the other mishaps that come with the territory.

Brothers' left leg turned black five years ago while he was re-tarring his driveway. Not thinking much about it, he ran water over the leg to wash it off, but the color didn't change. He didn't feel any pain, but it turned out that the leg was infected and wouldn't heal because of his diabetes. After losing the second leg three years ago, Brothers was declared "totally disabled." 

He doesn't let that label get to him, though. "A lot of people think their life is over [after an amputation].They don't seem to want to help themselves," Brothers said. "Fortunately, that's not the way I'm built. I never looked at it as the end of my life."

Yet, as he speaks, something in his voice hints at a deeper loss. He talks about losing not just his legs, but also a part of his ego. Brothers used to be a big man. He would roughhouse with his grandkids and tower over everyone. Now, he must take things a little easier--stay inside on icy days.

Brothers said he has learned to persevere because of something that he witnessed after the first amputation. He was sitting in McDonald's one day after dropping his daughters off somewhere; his artificial leg was propped up on a chair. Two truck drivers walked by him, smirked and pointed.

Brothers was irritated by this, thinking they were laughing at his expense, so he walked over to them.

"Do you have a problem with people who are missing limbs?" he asked the two guys.

The men shook their heads and pulled up their pant legs. Both of them had two artificial legs.

Brothers wants to be that kind of encouragement to others in FAAST and help them overcome that defeatist attitude. He also likes to organize and run events so he'll get involved in the group that way.

My lousy way of getting it done is better than your great way of not doing it. --quoted or originated by Terry Rossio 

c/o Beth Harris

6316 Sumerduck Road

Remington, VA 22734-2308

RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED

Where do we go from here?

Sharon "Doll" Hayes' simple scrapbook--Doll's Leg--chronicles her early years with a prosthetic leg in a way that children can understand. 

Each turn of the page reveals a black-and-white picture and a neatly typed explanation. 

Hayes is making more of them for her six grown nephews and nieces. Through her story, she hopes to teach their children, her grandnephews and grandnieces, that "people who have disabilities need our special consideration."

She doesn't say this, though, because she's been treated badly. Actually, quite the opposite.Although Hayes never married, she says she has always felt well loved -- by her parents, her two sisters and her grandfather who would show off her leg to his friends. The running joke in her family, affectionately said, is the phrase, "Wait for Sharon."

Growing up in the 1940s, Hayes didn't know anyone else her age with an artificial leg, which also made her feel special. 

Hayes was born without a kneecap and the weight-bearing bone on her left leg. Doctors said it would probably never grow and suggested amputating it while she was still young. She was 2 when her leg was cut above the knee and replaced by a prosthetic leg six months later.

Since then, Hayes has had a variety of prosthetic legs, first made of wood and now foam. She's learned naturally how to approach life without a limb--a stark contrast to the awkward transition that the other FAAST amputees have had. That's why Wright believes she will be a huge asset to the group; Hayes can share what she's learned from her years of experience.

Hayes doesn't think she's got anything to offer, but is willing to explore how the group will blossom.Hayes said she hopes the group will push sports because she likes to stay active; she's never let her leg slow her down. "I've spent my life trying to convince everyone I could do it as well. I may do it differently, but I can do it just as well," Hayes said.

In her adult life, Hayes has worked with people who never even knew she's handicapped. "One of the greatest compliments someone can give me is, 'Oh, I forget you have an artificial leg.' That's the way it should be," Hayes said.

On the last page of her scrapbook, Hayes has written in pen: "The loss of a limb doesn't make you less. Use it to make you more. I'm still untapped treasure."