Professional skier - with below-knee amputation.

When did your amputation happen and where exactly are you amputated?
My left lower leg was amputated in September 1992, 7 cm below the knee.

How did it happen?
The cause of my amputation was a motorbike accident on a rain-soaked road in Slovenia. On a long left bend, the front wheel of my machine skidded. I slithered a few meters over the asphalt and then slammed into the guard rail.  My motorbike bounced off the crash barrier and tore off my lower leg.

How did you feel after the amputation?
After the accident, my lower leg was sewn back on again and when I woke from the induced coma five days later, I never thought about an amputation. It wasn't until 17 days after the accident that the foot was amputated. Thereafter my emotional world was ''up and down'', but only for a short time.

Who stood by you during this difficult phase?
First and foremost, my family helped me. They tried to create the best possible opportunities and conditions to get me back on my legs as soon as possible.

Were you happy with your rehabilitation?
I have to answer this question with an emphatic no! I was not satisfied with the Rehab Centre at Bad Häring because there was no-one there who was capable of building a prosthesis for my residual limb. They wanted to amputate my residual limb to a knee disarticulation.

However, I was lucky that I already knew my present orthopaedic technician at that time, Robert Maier from Klagenfurt, and, on his own initiative, he immediately built a prosthesis for me with which I learnt to walk. Thereupon I stopped the rehabilitation.

How did your friends and family react to the amputation?
Everyone was very shocked when I went around on crutches without a prosthesis, but they are still shocked even today, although they all know that I have undergone an amputation. But now, it is extremely rare that I go around with crutches.

How do you deal with the amputation nowadays?
I have accepted it and believe that I am able to handle the situation very well.

Do you still have residual limb or phantom pain even today? What is it like and what do you do to counteract it?
I very rarely have pain as such, but I do feel a pulling and twitching in the residual limb. A very good treatment for me is magnetic field therapy, which uses a magnetic resonance system for treatment and prevention. This is mainly based on the resonance effect of pulsating electromagnetic fields in the human body. Vibrations are transmitted as specific information to diseased cells whose function is disturbed.

To what extent has your life changed?
Actually everything in my life has changed! There are new challenges and brand new possibilities of overcoming them. At the moment, everything revolves around skiing – a full 12 months a year, because I have become a professional sportsman. This possibility would probably not have arisen before the amputation.

You are an avid and successful skier. When did you start skiing and what motivated you to train so hard and intensively? How much has the sport helped you cope with the amputation?
I started skiing again only 14 months after the amputation. My orthopaedic technician Robert Maier helped me with it. It was my own wish to ski again. With time came success in the national championships and I began to train. In 1996, I was selected for the Austrian Ski Team squad and straightaway I saw the chance to get to the top in this sport internationally. The sport has helped me see the amputation from a quite different perspective.  Suddenly, I no longer viewed the amputation as a handicap, but as a new challenge.

What is your job?
Today, I am a professional sportsman – so a great deal has changed.
Before the amputation, I worked in the delivery service of the Post Office and after my accident I worked on the counter as well as at the customs duty clearance office. Nowadays, I earn my living from skiing. I am a trained instructor for child and youth ski racing events and a trainer.

What were your greatest successes in professional sport and which was the most important to you?
I came 2nd in the World Championships in Anzere (Switzerland) in the slalom and achieved 4th place in the downhill. In the 2002 Paralympics in Salt Lake City (USA), I was sixth in the downhill. In addition, I achieved several podium places. The runner-up title in the World Championship in 2000 in the slalom was my most important success, because it was the only medal at a major event.

What opportunities are there for you to make contact with other leg amputees?
Through skiing, I have established contact with leg amputees worldwide and thereby benefit greatly from the exchange of experiences. I can then pass these on to the team and the association at home. I also give ski lessons to amputees and wheelchair users and I play in the Klagenfurt sitting football team.

Have you any tips and advice, or a motto that you could give to other leg amputees?
I believe I have gained a lot of experience with lower limb prostheses, because I am very active and have already tried out and tested many different models. Tips and advice are highly individual, because everyone's requirements and problems differ. A motto that I would like to give leg amputees is: ''It is better to have fought and lost than never to have fought at all!“

What targets, wishes or plans do you have for the future, especially with regard to your life with the amputation and for your prosthesis care?
The next target from a sporting point of view is to win a medal at a world championship. In addition, I would like to continue working as trainer or manager in the field of disabled skiing.

Because of my short stump, my wishes in the field of prosthesis care would be the development of even lighter materials for prostheses. I envisage liners that are ''breathable'' like sports clothing.  n addition, the liners need to be much stronger because I believe that they represent the weak point of a good prosthesis provision.
 
Would you share your experiences in coping with the amputation with others and also bring skiing closer to them?
I have actually set myself that task.
I am happy to pass on my experiences and naturally want to bring skiing closer to anyone who is interested: for example, every spring, I am always on hand as a trainer at the Stolperstein skiing event.

You can find further information on Manfred Auer on his homepage at: www.m-auer.at