inMotion Magazine

Shine 29 What is Osseointegration? What is your interest in OI? Are there problems with conventional suction socket systems for amputees? Who qualifies for treatment with an OI system? DR. RONALD HILLOCK 702-258-5567 RON_HILLOCK@ME.COM www.nevadaorthopedic.com 7455 W. WASHINGTON AVE. STE 160 • LAS VEGAS NV 89128 2. Get them into a room as soon as possible and see what happens! He floored me when he asked me if I had the guts to go there. Perhaps I didn’t, but I got them alone in a room anyway, and slowly but surely the story unraveled and grew over the next six years. A fiction writer’s job is to be able to imagine being almost anyone, but to write about someone different than her, she needs to listen and learn. I looked up every article I could find online about limb loss. I watched dozens of videos of bilateral amputees learning to walk, getting up from sitting and lying down, putting on and taking off their prosthetics. Once I felt I had a strong enough draft, I reached out to the Amputee Coalition. I wanted to be sure Callahan’s portrayal, though fictional, felt authentic and true. Andrew graciously emailed me contacts. One of these was Nico Marcolongo at Challenged Athletes Foundation in San Diego, who was off-the-charts enthusiastic and encouraging. He immediately agreed to read the story and pass it along to Paralympic athlete Rudy Garcia Tolson. My heart was pounding when they both gave the story a thumbs up! And then thrilled, a couple years later, when Ploughshares, an esteemed literary review, chose to publish it. The story came out on 10/13. I believe a writer always writes what she, and she alone, needs to write. I call this the writing faith. The soul of this love story arises from my own body memory (broken bones, physical pain, and healing); from psychological issues I, too, have struggled with: body image, intimacy, and self-esteem; and questions about the human condition that fascinate me: is there a difference between visible and invisible suffering? do artificial enhancements make us more or less human? is it possible to love deeply across difference? Writing about Callahan, learning more about the experience of living with limb loss, has inspired me to get involved in Amputee Coalition’s excellent advocacy program. I am just starting, but look forward to being one more drop in the ocean that will make a difference. The Man with Eight Pairs of Legs lesliekirkcampbell.com/the-man- with-eight-pairs-of-legs/ PLOUGHSHARES SOLOS pshares.org/solos Related Resources