| Airline pilot, race
car driver, aerobatic pilot, Vietnam-era veteran, husband,
father, trainer, student ... the list goes on of things I have
done or been in my life. For the last 12 years I have also
lived with a serious injury that curtailed some of those roles
and caused me to rethink my life.
In 1993, after two weeks in a medically induced coma in the
University of Utah Medical Center, I awakened to hear my wife
tell me that I had crashed my race car and my hands were gone.
While faced with this traumatic injury, I also faced a choice
- to quit living and watch the grass grow and the paint dry or
to live a new life using prosthetic devices. I chose the
latter and that is my life today. My life has gotten better
every day since the accident.
I have lived in Vacaville with my family since 1988. At the
time of my accident racing a car across the Bonneville Salt
Flats in Utah, I was a commercial airline pilot for American
Airlines, was president of my biplane race class group, and
three days earlier had won my class at the Reno Air Races.
Shortly after my accident, I learned that I needed to find the
right tool for the job - that of replacing my hands. Through
extreme persistence dealing with insurance companies, I have
come to realize that to get the right tool to do the job
requires persistence and never giving up. To give up and go
away means someone else (in this case, insurance companies)
wins the battle - not me.
Insurance companies don't necessarily provide the choices
or are reluctant to purchase what the user chooses. In my
case, I have myo-electric prosthetic devices that initially
cost about $50,000 per pair. In contrast, body-powered
prosthetic arms cost about $5,000. If one ceases to work,
spares are not provided, meaning I lose the use of a
prosthetic. Maintenance is not readily provided, either. In
addition, reimbursement is slow through insurance. Having an
understanding prosthetic office, like Hanger Prosthetics, is
also key in obtaining the right equipment and keeping it in
working order.
After much effort and persistence with the Federal Aviation
Administration (FAA), I was finally able to fly again and went
to South Africa to fly aerobatic air shows. By using proper
prosthetic equipment, I was able to demonstrate the ability of
a person with a disability to fly once again.
I flew in the largest air show in the southern hemisphere
in 1997-1998 in Pretoria, South Africa. There were 600,000 in
attendance. During my month-long trip, I met with the media
and visited schools talking about prosthetics and
disabilities.
The experience of talking about my use of prosthetics in
South Africa led to my active involvement in A Touch of
Understanding.
This is a nonprofit
organization based in Granite Bay dedicated to educating
school children about various types of disabilities and the
importance of educating early to minimize the stereotyping and
stigmatization that often accompanies people with
disabilities. In 2003-2004, I gave 113 presentations to almost
4,000 school children in the Sacramento area. Children saw my
prosthetic arms, saw what they do for me, learned about my
accident, and met Magy, my service animal.
What can I say about Magy - she is my ditzy teenage
daughter who gets the newspaper for me, gets my slippers,
carries thing like keys, and assists me on a daily basis. She
is also makes me smile and helps me teach children about
people with disabilities and service animals.
When I acquired Magy, she was considered a change-of-career
dog: one that had been released from a training program. Since
I didn't need a lot of help, I didn't want to take a graduate
service animal from someone else who had a greater need than I
did. Magy was then, and is now, that animal.
In addition, in 2002 after two years of practice, Magy and
I began entering agility shows. Since that time, Magy and I
have won more than 35 titles in agility. This spring Magy won
her first championship. On July 24 Magy earned her Canine
Performance Event Agility Trial Championship, one of only 115
dogs who have achieved this championship level. To earn that
championship required earning 16 titles, which required 90
qualifying runs. On average, five qualifying runs can be
completed on a weekend. In addition Magy has earned the Canine
Good Citizen and Therapy Dog certifications. Magy is my
service animal, but together we have achieved in competition
what I could not have imagined when I got her.
Today, with the use of my prosthetic arms and my service
animal, I focus on what I CAN do, not what I can't do. I make
the best of what I have and have created a new life that
includes educating others and competing in new ways - not
unlike what I did prior to my accident.
Mike Penketh is a resident of Vacaville, and serves on
the city's ADFA Advisory Committee. He is also a regular
volunteer with A Touch of Understanding and regularly trains
with Magy in preparation for agility competitions.
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