Amputee Turns Tragedy Into Triumph With Action Sports Prosthetic

Amputee Turns Tragedy Into Triumph With Action Sports Prosthetic

Snocross and motocross racer Mike Schultz had been a longtime competitor in the Winter X Games before losing his left leg in a tragic snocross racing accident in 2008. However, the inspirational business owner used the tragic event to better his life and the lives of other action sports enthusiasts.

In this exclusive video, Schultz shares the gruesome details of that fateful day. "It was a pretty big hit," he recalls of the moment he found out that his leg would need to be amputated above the knee.

When he returned from the hospital, he "got sick of sitting around" and started building a special knee and prosthetic leg to accommodate his passion for riding. Soon the Moto Knee was born.

"I use a little Fox mountain bike shock and it has compressed air in it so when I put my weight down into it, the spring pushes me back up," Schultz says of the design.

The prosthetic can withstand 556 pounds of force and allows 135 degrees of flexion. Uses include: jet skiing, mountain biking, motocross, snocross and much more.

Schultz recently earned his third consecutive gold medal in SnoCross Adaptive at the Winter X Games, and it's clear that he is an inspiration on and off the course. "My situation after my accident in 2008 presented that opportunity for me to really grab it and make something of it," he says. "And it's turned out pretty darn good so far."

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The First-Ever Thought-Controlled 'Bionic' Leg

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