CAN Officer Returns to AFG With Artificial Leg

[brandon_]

What experiance/knowledge/medical background do you have to say this?

Well to say the least I don't i guess i went out of my lane there.

BUT as this is what we he wants he, obviously can manage if he completed all of the basic requirements and they are allowing him to go back, IF HE WAS NOT CAPABLE of it why? why would they allow him to go back ? The leg he still has would be able to bend, move around and as mcpl franklin would have nothing whatso ever to place the weight on when he feels very sore.
This officer he would be able to place weight on his limb that was not damaged and would reduce the pain to side of the artifical limb ?  would it not ?

 

[muskrat89]

Anyway.....

Someone with a Medical Degree cleared the good Captain - that excludes most of us.

Wildman asked a question which most likely is apples and oranges, but regardless he provided an e-mail address for replies.

Now let's stick to the topic at hand, please...

Army.ca Staff

 

[combat_medic]

Getting a single leg amputation is vastly different from a double leg amputation. Just as getting a double above-the-knee amputation is vastly different than a double below-the knee. Numerous factors will affect a person's medical assesment, recovery, and so on, depending on the the location of the amputation, types of prostheses, physical fitness, and so on. Even two people with virtually the exact same injury can have hugely different rates of recovery, and each case is assessed differently.

Unless you're a doctor, prosthetist, rehabilitation therapist or other specialist who is intimately familiar with both cases, it's pretty presumptuous to assume that you can judge their medical fitness for duty.

 

[PMedMoe]

I'm not so sure the difference is from a medical standpoint, although I'm sure that is also a factor.

From the article about Capt Mailloux:

The soldier said he didn't get preferential treatment and had to prove he could handle the rigours of redeploying to Afghanistan.

    "I'm not as fast as I used to be, but I passed all the physical tests," he said, noting that with his prosthetic leg he walked 13 kilometres with a 60 pound load on his back in two hours and 22 minutes....

and from the article regarding MCpl Franklin:

Master Cpl. Paul Franklin says his career in the military has stagnated, likely because his injuries prevent him from completing the physical aspect of the courses

There would be a huge difference between being able or not being able to perform the physical fitness tests required, let alone the medical aspect of their issues.

Perhaps one day, we will be so medically advanced that losing limbs may not be an issue, however, that day is not here yet.

 

[mariomike]

I hope this is on topic, and of interest to readers. I know that you can be a police officer with just one hand.

 

[wildman0101]

supersonicmax- copy your last
brandon naive no stupid yes
my apologies to all...was outa line
i misread re: double single amputee
above below knee ... having almost
lost both above knee i can relate..
as ive been wearing knee braces last
20 yrs... again my apologies and my
stupidity.... i stand corrected...
              scoty b

 

[brandon_]

no biggie wildman. We all make mistakes..
I guess i should apoligize for so hastily attacking you.

 

[Dissident]

This is not the first time for an amputee to go to Afghanistan. Not that it takes away anything from the Captain.

I know the article mentions returning to Afghanistan, and I'll take it that it is indeed a first.

But I did go on tour (TF1-07) with an Ex Lord Strat that re-mustered into the MPs after having one leg amputated below the knee. It took me six weeks to realize that he was missing something, and I was his room mate... The guy never said anything about it and carried on like (some would say better than) the rest of us.

If you can meet the physical standard, rock on.

 

[mariomike]

I hope this is relevant. Douglas Bader had both legs amputated—one above and one below the knee, and went on to become an Ace in WW2.:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_Bader#Early_years

 

[The Bread Guy]

.... Captain Mailloux's story will be on "The National" soon (posted to Twitter 12:35pm EST):
Spent day with Capt. Simon Mailloux - first Canadian amputee to return to duty in Afghanistan. Amazing guy. His story on @cbcthenational

 

[dapaterson]

Skill testing question:

If we've demosntrated that amputees can live and work in austere conditions like those in Afghanistan, and that it is possible for the CF to accomodate them, can we continue to refuse enrolment to amputees?

Or, in other words, have we just opened the Pandora's box of Universality of Service?

 

[Loachman]

I hope this is relevant. Douglas Bader had both legs amputated—one above and one below the knee, and went on to become an Ace in WW2.:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_Bader#Early_years

He wasn't the only one.

Another fellow whose name escapes me was deathly afraid of bailing out over the Channel, having his legs fill with water, and drowning. He filled his legs with pingpong balls to help them float if that ever happened. He was at 20000 feet one day when he heard a series of loud popping noises, which he took to be cannon fire, and took wild evasive action. After failing to detect any enemy fighters anywhere, he realized that it was just some of the weaker pingpong balls exploding.

 

[Monsoon]

If we've demosntrated that amputees can live and work in austere conditions like those in Afghanistan, and that it is possible for the CF to accomodate them, can we continue to refuse enrolment to amputees?

Well, I guess the counter-case would be that people who are injured in the line of duty who have already undergone the initial career phase that required them to be fit to a certain standard represent a different category of employee than untrained and inexperienced recruits who are not fit enough to perform the pointy-end jobs that they need to do to get meaningful experience for eventual employment in other roles.

The Charter makes things difficult - and the human rights industry is certainly far more evolved than the military's ability to articulate itself in legal terms - but if we think about this sort of thing long enough we can eventually sort out what makes this kind of case different.

 

[George Wallace]

Yes, a precedent has been set.  It, however, is not a precedent to hire amputees or handicapped persons off the street, but a precedent to retain highly skilled persons, into whom a lot of expense and training has been given.  It is expensive to train CF members and even more so to loose them.  Remember, that these people have met the criteria to join the CF, prior to their ‘injuries’; not join the CF with pre-existing problems, and attained the skills, knowledge and experience to deploy. 

If there is a Human Rights complaint that could be made, it is not one to allow handicapped persons to join the CF, but one not to ‘discard’ those who are injured in the line of duty.

 

[Barts]

I hope this is relevant. Douglas Bader had both legs amputated—one above and one below the knee, and went on to become an Ace in WW2.:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_Bader#Early_years

I was very inspired as a youth (and still) by his determination.  Not too many double amputees escaped from POW camps...  I highly reccomend reading his biography.

He happened to be CO of a Canadian Sqn, too, as he moved up through the ranks.