Encouragement Motivates Amputee to Walk Again

Thomas Edwards’s right leg had to be amputated due to complications from diabetes. “After that,” the 79-year-old recalls, “I thought my life was over.”

Still, rigorous physical therapy sessions followed as Thomas learned to walk with a walker, take steps and negotiate the parallel bars.

“With the daily encouragement of ‘Mr. D.’ (Thomas’s physical therapist Diogenes Lagos), the amputee support group, yoga sessions and music therapy, I started to feel better and realized that my life was not over."

Today, the rehabilitation continues as Thomas Edwards learns to use his new prosthetic leg.

“Now, I have a long-term goal: to be independent once again…and that means being able to walk.”

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