News : Former VS student Akers shares stories about life as double amputee

Tilford students had a close-up look at life as an amputee from former student VS Ben Akers.

Tilford students heard Ben Akers speak about being a double amputee.

Tilford students took turns on Friday gathering around the speaker, looking at the stump of his right leg, examining his scars, and holding his artificial legs.

The speaker, Ben Akers, once walked the halls and ran the gym floor at Vinton-Shellsburg schools. But he struggled to do so, on club feet which had troubled him since his birth.

After a lifetime of seeing doctors and a prognosis of surgeries with no promise of a significantly better life, Ben, who attended schools in Vinton for several years before his family moved to Oskaloosa, chose to enter a new phase as double amputee.

First, his left leg, then a few months later, his right leg were cut off below the knee. Both surgeries took place within the last few months.

Ben began chronicling his surgeries and recovery in a Facebook page. Someone told his former elementary gym teacher about it, and she invited him to speak to her current students.

Mindy McClintock became the first to invite Ben to speak about his experiences.

“Not very many people will pass their legs around the room,” said McClintock.

The teacher recalls having Ben in gym class.

“Ben was a happy-go-lucky kid who never complained, never said ‘My foot hurts today, can I sit out?’” McClintock recalls. Describing his run as “more of a wobble,” McClintock recalled how other students at times would say unkind things about the way Ben ran on the sides of his feet.

Ben played basketball on a league team, as a teammate for several years for the boys who eventually played on the undefeated VS varsity team of 2012-13.

“I was the slowest kid on the gym floor,” Ben recalls.

Eventually, Ben gave up athletics, although he remained active in marching band and drama at Oskaloosa High School, where he graduated in 2013. Ben is currently taking on-line college courses and serving as one of two substitute teacher’s associates for the Oskaloosa district. He plans to eventually make teaching his career.

Ben gave his first presentation ever at Tilford on Friday, sitting in front of the stage as students sat close around him – close enough to see the scars from his most recent amputation.

One main purpose of the visit, said McClintock, was to help children understand and accept students who are different in some way.

Ben shared his story with the students, then answered questions. He demonstrated how he puts on his prosthetic legs, after putting on several layer of sleeves to protect his stump.

While many students asked questions about the surgery and Ben’s adjustment to life as an amputee, one girl made Ben pause for a moment when she asked, “Does this make you feel special?”

Ben replied that in a way, his experiences do make him special, and have given him an opportunity to help show others.

At the same time, said McClintock, Ben’s conversation with the students show that he is “just a regular guy.”

Ben’s enthusiasm helped him through the difficult days of high school, where marching with the band in parades on concrete streets was one of his most difficult challenges. He also recalls a moment in a school play when he had to jump off a desk onto the stage.

His mother – who was well aware of potential injuries from a jump like that – did not know Ben would do that.

“I could almost hear her gasp from the stage,” Ben recalls.

Ben’s mom, sister and girlfriend joined him in Vinton on Friday.

Ben said he chose amputation after hearing doctors explain that a series of four operations offered a 70 percent chance of living with less pain, a 20 percent chance of no change and a 10 percent chance of making things worse. He believes it is easier for him to talk about amputation now because he has had years to get used to the idea of living without his feet. Also, being young and healthy has helped him reach his physical therapy goals faster than many other amputee patients. Ben recently graduated from PT and hopes to walk a 5K later this year, and eventually to run one.

Ben explained to the students how his legs were swollen after the amputations and continue to get smaller, requiring different equipment (sockets) and ever-changing layers of thick sleeves. Ben showed the students his stump and the process of attaching his leg, and how he walks on his prosthetics.

“I am incredibly honored to be invited there to speak and share a little of my story and I want to thank Mindy McClintock for this opportunity,” said Ben, adding that with the new sockets he will have “more mobility than I've had in all my life.”

See Ben's recovery page HERE

See a video of Ben speaking to the students HERE.