Connie Moe is a firecracker of a woman from Richmond, Virginia. Though
only 4’10” in height, her personality is as big as they come. Being an amputee
hasn’t slowed her down one bit, and her story and determination to lead an
active lifestyle is inspiring.
“I’ve
always been athletic. I’m not particularly good at any sport, but love them
all,” she said. Connie completed her first
10K in 2002, “One of the things I enjoyed
most about doing a 10K was the training – that was as much fun as the 10K
itself,” she said. It was during that race
that she began to have issues with her ankle.
“I ran
the 2002 10K in Richmond and after the race my ankle looked like it had a goose
egg on it,” she said. “I went to several physicians, but could never get the
problem fixed.” After a number of attempts to resolve the issue, she started
considering her alternatives. “I had heard about ankle replacements,” said
Connie, “I thought might be a smart option. After so many surgeries, the idea
of a new leg and ankle sounded great to me!”
Connie
continued, “I went to a world renown specialist in ankle replacement, who initially
did not want to take me on as a patient because of my age.” At this point, it
was now 2005, 3 years after her initial issues with her ankle. “But after he
talked with me and found out I was a personal trainer, and had taught exercise
classes since 1985, he agreed to see me and then accepted me as a patient.” For
Connie, exercise is an essential activity, so it was important to her to be
able to maintain an active lifestyle.
Unfortunately, Connie’s
ankle replacement was fraught with complications. “After the surgery, I
contracted MRSA. At first, I didn’t understand that MRSA was why the replacement
wasn’t taking the way it should. I had IV medications at home, I had to go to
the hospital several times and my husband had to keep driving me back and forth
to Baltimore, it was a mess.”
During
the course of trying to repair her ankle, Connie had a total of 17 surgeries
dealing with the different things to get her back up and running. “I went up
for one more surgery and I told my husband, ‘I’m ready just to have this thing
gone,’” said Connie. At this point, the physician and Connie agreed – it was
time to amputate. Amazingly, Connie was happy. “I was just delighted to get rid
of that nasty ankle that wouldn’t do anything,” she said.
“Once the
MRSA entered into the bone and there was no way to get rid of it,” Connie
continued. “After 2 years of not being able to function in the manner to which
I was accustomed, I told the physicians to take the foot and ankle - surely
anything is better than this!”
“And it
was and still is,” said Connie.
“After the amputation, my husband
standing by me, he said ‘you got a foot.’ The physicians had put me into an air
cast, wrapped around my leg, with a foot at the bottom – and I walked out of
there with that foot on my leg,” said Connie. She continued to use that until
she healed enough to receive a prosthetic.
Being raised in Richmond, she was already familiar with Powell. “One of
my class mates had cerebral palsy and used Powell for his stabilizers, so when
it became apparent I'd need a prosthetic it never occurred to me to go anyone
else but Powell.”
Since Connie got her prosthetic, she’s been as active as ever. “It
helped that I was in good physical condition when I lost my leg,” she said.
“Even during recovery, I still taught and worked with clients as a personal
trainer and continued teaching exercise class.” I’m 82 years old and I maintain
my certification as a personal trainer and still teach classes twice a week.”
\Connie is also an active advocate for amputees.
In April, she went
to Washington, DC with a group of other amputees and advocates to ask legislators
to support continuing care for amputees. Supported by the Amputee Coalition of
American, the group visited with senators and legislators with their message on
why it was important to continue medical care for amputees. “It was a bit of an
amazing site,” said Connie. “We were put out on capital hill – all these people
with prosthetics put out over that hill in crazy heat, but we were on a
mission.” Florida Congressman Brian Mast, an Afghanistan veteran, visited with
them during the afternoon. Mast is a double amputee after an IED blast during
his final tour took both of his legs in 2010.
When asked what words of encouragement she might
have for those facing the loss of a limb, Connie’s advice first and foremost is
to have to have a sense of humor about everything – even about a lost limb.
Next, she says, “Get a good prosthetic and USE IT. Whatever the limb loss, use
that prosthetic, learn to work it and just use it as much as you can. Don’t
favor it – don’t treat it as what it is. Try not to limit yourself.”
