DISABILITIES

By Daniel J. Vance

In October 2003 this column featured Scott Rogers, who was getting ready then to hike the 2,170-mile long Appalachian Trail. Perhaps you've heard his story on CNN or Paul Harvey. Recently I interviewed him again and learned of an emotionally taxing ending to an incredible story.

To refresh your memory, in 1998 Rogers accidentally shot his left leg while hunting. After complications in 2002, doctors had to amputate. He was fitted with a $50,000 Otto Bock Health Care Computer Leg, a prosthetic made up of microprocessors and sensors feeding information to a high-tech hydraulic system that helps his left knee stand and swing.

He said recently over the telephone, "I started in Georgia on March 22, 2004, on a 19-degree morning in falling snow. Before reaching the Smoky Mountains, I had problems with blisters on my stump. A 'normal' hiker develops his 'trail legs' the first 100 miles. As for me, my stump had to get calloused."

While hiking in Tennessee his computer leg broke off; another time a rattlesnake bit it. Some challenging stretches he had to bypass. In Virginia he faced so much media hounding that he began disguising himself by growing a beard and wearing long pants. While physically exhausted atop Maine's Mount Katahdin he had to be airlifted off. Quite an adventure.

"Maine and New Hampshire had the hardest stretches," he said. "Up north they start you at the bottom of a mountain and it's a straight line up. The rocks and roots are tough. I fell in Maine a lot because I can't feel when my left foot gets tangled in a root."

His personal "record" for falling down in a day had been 17 until reaching Maine, where in one 13-mile section he fell 28 times. On average he hiked 15 miles daily. He hiked first from Georgia to West Virginia, and then flew to Maine to hike back to West Virginia.

The 36-year-old hiker said, "In the beginning I wanted to finish and say I could. But I learned I have to acknowledge my limitations. It's physically impossible for me to be a 'through hiker,' meaning someone who hikes every mile in 12 months. I gave it my best effort."

As for emotionally taxing: Rogers had to end his hike November 12 less than 200 miles from the finish line because of a family tragedy back home.

For more, see www.danieljvance.com or www.onelegwonder.com.