Reflections by Kris

The non-profit organization DRAFT - Disability Rights Advocates for Technology - have been quietly donating Segways to veterans who have lost limbs or suffered other injuries that make mobility a challenge, if not an impossibility.  As of today, the total is 150.

Imagine how much energy, core strength and stamina it takes to walk on one artificial limb, let alone 2. The Segways are customized, giving our wounded warriors a sense of freedom of motion that most amputees don't get to experience. 

Leonard Timm, who founded DRAFT in 2005, calls the mission "Segs-4-Vets." 

"[The Segways] provide them with another mobility option that will increase their distance, and will give them a way to communicate with the world standing up," Timm said.

It is worth noting that Mr. Timm himself is a double amputee who uses a Segway designed with a seat for him. 

Indeed. If you've ever been in the company of someone in a wheelchair, it's a humbling experience as they see everything at waist level - eye contact is impossible.  So many people treat them as if they are invisible or worse - impaired in some way other than physically.  Frustration must exist in every effort they make to be seen and heard.

For the 150 vets who have received these specially outfitted Segways, it's a liberating experience:

U.S. Army Sgt. Jacque Keeslar lost both legs in Iraq nearly two years ago. To get around, he relies on a wheelchair and a pair of artificial legs, which help him walk in short bursts. 

"If I have to do a half mile or mile of walking, it just exhausts me," Keeslar said.

Now, thanks to a specially designed Segway, the battery-powered transporter, Keeslar says he can ditch his wheelchair and get around without people looking down on him.

There is an informal "Segway Support Group" that meets weekly at Walter Reed - to learn how to use them, to share tips and experiences - and to live life standing up.

Segway distributors are responsible for donating the $6,000 machines to DRAFT. As the machines are not approved for medical use, the company has stayed in the background of the project.

By the way, here's how the Segway works:

Lean forward. Start slowly.

Lean further. Go faster.

And then go almost anywhere.

That's what Army Specialist Josh Stein found out as he tried out his Segway. Spec. Stein lost both legs in Iraq - and believed that a life confined to a wheelchair was not in his future:

"Watch me do that. I will prove you wrong. I never give up on anything I do. It's one thing to know my limits," said Josh, 23. "It's another thing to say I don't want to do something because it's too hard."

Thanks to DRAFT and Segway - many more wounded warriors will "go almost anywhere".