Editor’s note: This issue we introduce a new feature, “Five Questions For….” Each month, we’ll feature a quick interview with someone of interest to the O&P industry. 

We’re starting off with a special double feature. We were able to talk with Oscar Pistorius, the Paralympian currently working to qualify for the Olympics (see “In the News,” July 2007), as well as with his prosthetist, Trevor Brauckmann, CPO. 

For future interviews, we’re open to considering anyone from Heather Mills to the guy down the street. If you’ve got a suggestion, send it to almanac@AOPAnet.org. 

Five Questions For…Oscar Pistorius, Paralympic champion 

1. What is the status of your Olympic bid?
As far as qualifying times, I’m running a 46.3 at the moment—46.3 seconds on the 400 meter. I need to run about a 45.5 to make the qualifying standard in South Africa. 

As far as the IAAF goes, the rule that they made is still pending. I’m not sure if the rule includes us or excludes at the moment. In the last two months I’ve been scheduled to race in Grand Prix meets in Europe and they’ve told me I’m not allowed to run, and yet the spokesperson told the press last week that the rule does include me. So we’re still waiting to see what the decision is regarding that. 

There have been a couple of national races that they’ve excluded me from running in already. 

2. What do you think of the recent articles questioning if you are “too-abled”?
From the orthotic and prosthetic point of view, to us it seems like total madness. And yet to them, [it seems] like they’re justified. The only reason that’s the case is they haven’t done any research. 

That’s what we try to do, we try to inform them. If they want to conduct any tests and such, they’re more than welcome. We’re pretty confident in our knowledge that I’m not advantaged. We have a lot that we’d like to share with them before they discriminate any more.

3. What is the most important function a prosthetist can perform for an amputee?
The skill [my prosthetist has] offered me that works the best is definitely his ability to balance and align the running leg. I’m very lucky to have my prosthetist come with me, and he’s been able to work with the R&D [research and development] team. We’ve become close and we work closely together. 

We’ve both found that the walking leg seems to be the opposite from the running leg. For the walking leg, I like the foot to be softer and for my balance to be centered. For the running leg, I like the balance to be really on the tip of the toe. You’re more into feeling like you constantly need to go forward. Whereas with my walking leg, I like to know, if I’m standing balanced, that I’ve got full support whether leaning forward or leaning backward. 

4. What is your biggest problem with your prostheses?
I’d say blisters. I had a lot of trouble with blisters in the past. Whether from the sport or from the shock, I’ve got a lot of back problems. As far as the prosthesis and the reliability, I think the Cheetah is better than any other prosthesis I’ve ever used. It’s very important to get used to the foot. 

5. What’s your favorite activity, other than running?
I like playing golf, I like motorcross. I enjoy the watersports quite a bit, so I enjoy jet ski racing. Basically any sport—I’m kind of a sporty person. 

Five Questions For… Trevor Brauckmann, CPO 

1. What part of your training has been most helpful in working with athletes?
[At the beginning of my career], South Africa was in isolation, and we didn’t have access to all the technology. So over the years, [we learned through practical] experience with patients. We had to make do in those days, and it probably forced us to actually make the prostheses [we needed]. 

[You can now communicate with] prosthetists all over the world; every problem you discuss, you can get their perspectives on. I’ve gotten some information from guys in Australia that has helped me. [But practicing prosthetics has] a continual learning curve—what you’re doing on one patient is not necessarily going to work on the next. A lot of it is experimentation. 

2. What are the mechanical challenges of fitting for an athlete?
One of the biggest things is the suspension of the prosthesis: to make the prosthesis stay on so that it doesn’t wobble around or fall off during running. And at the same time, [you have to] allow [the athlete] full range of motion. 

As for the rest of the actual manufacturing of the prostheses, the fit of the socket is as important as what the alignment is.

3. How do you combat the effects of heavy activity on the residual limb?
Over the years, with Oscar, we’ve tried many different techniques. [He has] got really strange stumps. We’ve tried silicone on him, and he’s not all that comfortable with it. Even though the suspension is good, he cannot get comfortable with the actual pressure of the material. He perspires a lot in them, which in itself makes for a slight movement inside the socket. 

On Oscar’s legs, we use pelite, and it’s got a strapping system that he can tighten, to keep those legs suspended inside. It’s more of an old technology, but somebody like Oscar, who’s been on prosthetics since age 1 or 2, has become used to something like this. 

He also uses the bottom ends of his stumps; he’s got a bit of movement and musculature on the stumps that he uses to grip in the socket.

[It’s important, because] if you look at footage of races Oscar has run in, from time to time [the legs] do come a bit loose. The average person might not pick it up, but I see that there is movement. And if the prosthesis turns ever so slightly on him, when he lands at full speed on the prosthetic foot in a turned position, he could really fall very hard. He could do himself a serious injury. 

4. How do you think this controversy over amputees competing with able-bodied athletes will affect the technical side of the industry?
I think it’s a good thing because I think it’s actually raised a lot of awareness, and I think prosthetic companies are getting a lot of media coverage out of this.

But at the end of the day, the patient still has to power it. It’s not like these are electronic prosthetics or [that they have] an external power source. And with these sorts of materials, if you do not put in, you do not get out 100 percent, so I think that the materials can improve even more. 

Companies like Ossur are moving into bionic technology and special fluids and things. If there wasn’t a market for this, I don’t think they’d be spending millions of dollars. I think it can only get better. 

5. Why do some people think prosthetic limbs might have an advantage over natural limbs?
I think, first, [it’s] because of inaccurate media coverage, with the feet referred to as “springs.” Everybody sees this big blade at the bottom of the stump, and they say it’s a spring. [The blades] might store energy as the patient moves them, but they are not true springs. 

A lot of amputees from all over the world have been running on these kinds of feet for years now, and there’s only one person who has reached this stage. I don’t really see where the big so-called “advantage” is. He’s pushing the boundaries, but he still hasn’t done the actual qualifying round, or beaten those world record times for the so-called “able-bodied” athletes.

I think the big problem is total ignorance. Maybe there’s not enough research and experimentation done, whereby an amputee is tested against somebody who is “normal.” It has to be factual information, not just someone who has heard something from somebody. It has to be done with the proper clinical tests.

Interviews by Rebecca St. Andrie and Heather Benjamin