Title:
A Prosthetics Center Helps Athletes Stay a Step
Ahead
Description: This is
a VOA Special English General News Report.
See text below
Text:
Amy Palmiero-Winters is a long-distance runner. That
would be hard work for most people. But Palmiero-Winters
has a prosthetic leg.
PALMIERO-WINTERS: "People look at the shape of the
foot and assume it has spring. All it does is
absorbs the shock when my body pounds down."
Palmiero-Winters injured her left leg 16 years ago
in a traffic accident. Doctors worked to save the
leg, but decided to remove it below the knee. Later,
she returned to running, but her replacement leg
caused pain. Then, she went to A Step Ahead, a
prosthetics center that Erik Schaffer founded.
ERIK SCHAFFER: "She was running nine miles (14.5
kilometers) an hour on the treadmill for 10 minutes
and not even out of breath. And I didn't know what I
had there, other than, wow, she is some athlete."
PALMEIRO-WINTERS: "And so I told him, I want to run
100 miles (161 km). And he didn't laugh at me. He
didn't think I was crazy. He just looked at me and
he's like 'All right.' He's like, 'Then that's what
you'll do.'"
Palmiero-Winter has become a top runner because of
legs built at A Step Ahead. She has won many honors,
including the Sullivan Award. She often trains at
night after her children are asleep. Recently, she
won a 200-kilometer race in Arizona. During the day,
she works at A Step Ahead, directing sports programs
and helping young people like Diego Barcenas.
PALMIERO-WINTERS: "I want them to know that, you
know, the only obstacles we have are the ones that
we set for ourselves."
DIEGO BARCENAS: "I just really wanted to run again,
just do everything a normal kid does. You know, I'm
on the soccer team, and going to try out for the
basketball team. So, I mean, I'm just trying to live
my life like as if I have my both legs, and I pretty
much do."
PALMIERO-WINTERS: "Not only is he trying out for the
teams. He's doing very well at them. He's right up
there with the other athletes."
PALMIERO-WINTERS: "And we're not disabled in any
way. We're just athletes who compete with
prosthetics."
Last summer, Amy Palmiero-Winters took part in a
race of only five kilometers. The event included
climbing up and down hills, over barriers and along
walls. She did not win, but said she had fun.
PALMIERO-WINTERS: "Whew! New York makes them tough."
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Hi. I
personally reviewed this video and found it appropriate for
the news section of English Global Group. This
is a Voice of America video which covers an interesting
topic in Special English. I would appreciate some feedback from both
students and teachers about this video. You can comment in
the window below using any of a number of different services
including Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, and Hotmail.
