Basti - My way back to life
My way back to life
My name is Bastian, I am a sustainability manager at Hack AG in Kurtscheid in the Westerwald. On 06.06.2016, I had a serious accident in Morocco and have been knee disarticulated since then. When I got off the train after a day in Marrakech, it hit, whereupon I lost my balance and fell between the train and the platform. After I was hospitalized, the amputation of my lower right leg followed. After several far-reaching complications in the hospital, I was finally allowed to return to Germany after 10 days, to my family and friends. Immediately after the amputation, I was haunted by very extreme phantom pain, which I was able to alleviate in Germany primarily through mirror therapy and strong painkillers. Today I am completely pain-free. I thank the doctors and nurses very much for that. The individual and excellent prosthetic fitting by the BornProthesenhandwerk team in Koblenz then brought me completely back to life.
An amputation brings with it physical and psychological problems. For a long time I put off the psychological consequences of the accident. People who have experienced such a serious accident have to deal with its consequences physically, mentally and emotionally in order to find their way back into life. Today, I have mastered this challenge and am fully back in life, just as I was before the accident. Amputees often have misalignment in the pelvis or problems with the intervertebral disc. My solution to this is sports. You don't have to be afraid to access sports in all areas with a physical impairment. I go swimming, run in stadiums with my sports prosthesis, ride downhill. An important building block for being as mobile in life again is a good prosthesis fitting. Benjamin Born's team provides me with technical and personal support in a way that I wouldn't want to miss. The prosthetist is a constant companion for a person with an amputation. In the team at Born Prothesenhandwerk, I was able to find companions who became friends. If you feel uncomfortable at a medical supply store, you can and should change. I had to learn that first, too. You have many more options than you think. No one is forced to stay with their prosthetic technician, you can change at any time!
My path to competitive sports
My motivation is to live exactly as I did before the accident. That's why it was clear that I absolutely had to start running again. After I had run a first test socket including a running spring and the 3S80 sports knee joint, my prosthesis technician accompanied me to Leverkusen, a Paralympic performance center, where I was able to run properly again for the first time. This was the foundation for three years of competitive sports in which my prosthetist was always at my side. I studied and worked at the same time. It is not easy to do professional competitive sports. The combination of studies, work and training demands a lot from you. With the outbreak of the corona pandemic, I had to give up the dream of the Paralympics. Now I'm fully focused on my work as a sustainability manager. Nevertheless, sports still play a big role in my life.
I have always had many hobbies - even now. The knee joint has different modes that I use to the full. I ride downhill, go hiking and am generally very active. For downhill riding I use Magpeds, special pedals with strong magnets that guarantee a secure grip. Little things like that help significantly in coping with everyday life. In fact, I have also snowboarded with the ProCarve prosthesis from Ottobock. It was a unique experience that I wouldn't want to miss. I would like to go snowboarding regularly again, but the prosthesis is expensive and, like the walking prosthesis, the costs are not covered by health insurance. I hope that this will change in the future. I am aware that snowboarding is not an everyday need, but running is. I really enjoy going for a run after work, clearing my head, just switching off. I know many people in my situation who struggle with the issue of financing such a prosthesis. I paid for it myself at the time and tried to get at least part of the cost back, which ultimately succeeded. My advice here is for everyone to get an initial consultation with a lawyer. The legislator in cooperation with the health insurance companies should definitely make improvements here. Obtaining a sports prosthesis should be possible for everyone. More about me: Instagram