GEORGE NEWS - Heinz Mueller (68) believes age and adversity should never stop people from chasing new goals.
He shared his journey during George's first amputee support meeting at Redberry Farm on Saturday 11 July , where he encouraged his fellow amputees to remain active and never give up.
After losing his leg in a motorcycle accident in 1982, he faced another major setback in 2008 when he crashed while he was cycling on the Garden Route Dam wall during training for a Kilimanjaro endurance event.
The accident left him with a shattered hip and fractured femur, requiring multiple operations and forcing him to completely relearn how he ran.
Having previously worked in the prosthetics industry, Mueller later established his own business in which he manufactures and customises prosthetic components, including specialised running legs.
He was part of the team that launched George's parkrun alongside Bruce Fordyce in 2014 and has since completed 240 races of it. Just four weeks ago, he broke a personal best that had stood for six years.
Mueller rotates dif-ferent prosthetic legs for different activities to reduce pressure sores and discomfort. He encouraged amputees to seek adjustments to their prostheses as soon as discomfort develops instead of waiting until wounds appear.
"Even as you get older and face challenges, nothing is impossible," he said. "There is hope for all of us."
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