Marine Lance Cpl. Joshua Bleill lost both his legs above the knees when a bomb exploded under his Humvee while on patrol in Iraq on October 15, 2006. He has 32 pins in his hip and a 6-inch screw holding his pelvis together.
Now, he’s starting to walk again with the help of prosthetic legs outfitted with Bluetooth technology more commonly associated with hands-free cell phones.
“They’re the latest and greatest,” Bleill said, referring to his groundbreaking artificial legs.
Bleill, 30, is one of two Iraq war veterans, both double leg amputees, to use the Bluetooth prosthetics. Computer chips in each leg send signals to motors in the artificial joints so the knees and ankles move in a coordinated fashion.
There’s a video here [and a commercial, first] interviewing Joshua Bleill at Walter Reed. Inspirational.
Even though I spent a few years working in a hospital – and the tales are always the same, I’m still amazed at young folks who can face a truly disastrous shift in how they live and carry on well-balanced and growing.
Bravo for Joshua Bleill – and kudos to the folks who developed his Bluetooth legs.
#1, I second that. May this only get better and much more common.
How soon until someone figure out how to hack that guys walk?
wow. ain’t that great. 🙂 am happy for him.
I’d hate to get kicked by that guy.
In fairness, it looks like it’s in the “News and Current Affairs” section of an Entertainment news website. Although that probably have could be arranged better.