U.S. Marine Staff Sgt. Liam Dwyer lost his left leg above the knee when he stepped on a land mine in Afghanistan in 2011. Then, he began numerous reconstructive surgeries and was fitted for a prosthetic. Now, Sgt. Dwyer will make his debut in the Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge, driving the No. 27 Freedom Autosport Mazda MX-5. Watch his incredible story!

An excerpt from the New York Times, A Bionic Approach to Prosthetics Controlled by Thought

Engineers at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab have developed a next-generation prosthetic: a robotic arm that has 26 joints, can curl up to 45 pounds and is controlled with a person’s mind just like a regular arm.

Researchers think the arm could help people like Les Baugh, who lost both arms at the shoulder after an electrical accident as a teenager. Now 59, Mr. Baugh recently underwent surgery at Johns Hopkins to remap the remaining nerves from his missing arms, allowing brain signals to be sent to the prosthetic.

Read the rest of the article at The New York Times.

On May 1, 2015, The American Orthotic & Prosthetic Association invited Congressional members and their staff to attend a special news briefing to view the latest prosthetic technology, receive an overview of insurance challenges patients face, along with legislative, regulatory and research issues in Orthotics & Prosthetics, Medicare, VA, the Department of Defense and the private sector. Below are the speakers who brought the message that “Mobility Saves”!

Charles Dankmeyer, Jr., CPO, AOPA President

Audrey El-Gamil, Senior Manager, Dobson-DaVanzo & Associates

Adrianne Haslet-Davis, Boston Marathon Amputee

Peggy Chenowith, Amputee and Director of Social Media at the Amputee Coalition

Thomas F. Fise, Esq., Executive Director, AOPA

Aaron Holm, Ottobock, USA

Ian Fothergill, CPO, Medical Center O&P, Silver Spring, MD