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Jun 17, 2011
Rock climber 'lucky' to lose his legs
Tragedy at 17 spurred him to become an award-winning inventor
By Lydia Vasko
Putting his best foot forward
DR HUGH Herr, 46, is an award-winning inventor and professor and director of Massachusetts Institute of Technology's (MIT) biomechatronics research group.
The champion rock climber lost both his legs in a climbing accident at age 17, but began scaling new heights again, thanks to specialised prosthetic limbs that he designed and built himself.
At 26, he graduated with a physics degree from a local college and earned his first patent in prosthetic enhancement. He went on to do a master's degree in mechanical engineering from MIT and a PhD in biophysics from Harvard University at age 33, all the while publishing articles and patenting new prostheses.
His work is now at the forefront of prosthetic innovation. One of his most famous inventions, the Powered Ankle-Foot Prosthesis, was voted one of Time Magazine's top 10 inventions of the year in 2007.
-- ST PHOTO: LAU FOOK KONG
IT IS hard to feel pity for Dr Hugh Herr. An avid rock climber, award-winning inventor and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) professor, it is easy to forget the 46-year-old has no feet.
Twenty-nine years ago, a mountain-climbing accident left him stranded on a mountainside in New Hampshire for three days in -28 deg C conditions. His legs were so badly frostbitten that doctors had no choice but to amputate both below the knee.
He was only 17 then, and acknowledged to be one of the best climbers in the United States.
But the youngest of five children of Mennonite farmers who grew up on a farm outside of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, did not allow the loss of his legs to keep him off the mountains.
In Singapore this week to talk about his life experiences and his work in prosthetics as a keynote speaker at the Nomura Asia Equity Forum, he says: 'I had always been passionate about mountain climbing and naturally I wanted to get back on the horse.
'It's the rebellious person inside of me. When society thinks in one way, I just do what's orthogonal. Everyone was viewing my accident and subsequent amputations as something horrible... and it was fun to say, 'No, it's OK, this is actually fun.''
He began climbing while still in rehabilitation, two weeks after receiving his first pair of artificial limbs. Within six months, he was climbing at pre-amputation levels, thanks to specialised prostheses he designed and built himself.
Using knowledge from his metalwork class, the high school student devised new 'feet' which could fit into the narrowest crevices and dig into ice. He was soon climbing rock faces his heeled competitors could not reach.
In retrospect, losing both his limbs 'was actually really lucky', he says. He could adjust his height by lengthening or shortening his prostheses, enhancing his reach on the mountain and even his effect on the ladies. 'If I was going on a date with a tall girl, I could increase my height. If she was short, I could be short,' he jokes.
His rock climbing capabilities improved so much thanks to prostheses that his competitors began to view him as a cheat. 'When someone with an unusual body participates in athletics but is not competitive, he is labelled courageous. The second he is competitive, he becomes a threat. It's fascinating how people go from pity to envy overnight.'
Undeterred, he continued to climb and, by 25, was inducted into the Sports Hall of Fame, which recognises outstanding athletic achievement.
But the world of rock climbing began to lose its appeal as he found a new passion in technology and design through developing prostheses. 'I became tired of being an extreme athlete and always terrified of my next injury which would affect my performance. The climbing that I was doing was very, very dangerous. When you put yourself out on a limb like that for years, it wears on the mind,' he says.
He turned his focus to the academic world. Growing up in a predominantly Amish community, where many families spurn modern technology and use a horse and buggy for transportation, he had no intention of going to college before his amputation. At that time, he was entirely focused on becoming a world champion rock climber.
'I was a C, D, F student,' he says, 'but after the accident, I became inspired intellectually. I went from a life of athletics to being inspired by mathematics, computer science and physics.'
At 26, he graduated with a physics degree from a local college and earned his first patent in prosthetic enhancement. He went on to do a master's in mechanical engineering at MIT and, at age 33, a PhD in biophysics at Harvard University.
Now a professor and director of the biomechatronics research group at MIT, his work is at the forefront of prosthetic innovation. One of his most famous inventions, the Powered Ankle-Foot Prosthesis, was voted one of Time Magazine's top 10 inventions of the year in 2007.
The Ankle-Foot, known commercially as the PowerFoot BiOM, has its own power source - a battery pack placed where the calf muscle would have been - which helps moves the foot forward. He calls it a transportation device, which 'makes you feel like you're on the moving walkway at the airport'.
He would know. He uses two of them. The PowerFoot is currently on the market through his company iWalk, and is sold mainly to veterans' hospitals and the US Department of Defence to aid war-related amputees. On the market since Christmas last year, it is used by around 200 people today.
'At a certain point, we'll be able to build limbs that, functionally, are as good as biological limbs,' he says confidently. 'Society now is very cell- and tissue-centric. We think cells and tissues are somehow better than titanium, plastics and urethane; that somehow our souls are found in the cells in our fingertips. That's starting to change.'
Still, he acknowledges biological limbs maintain the advantage in their ability to heal. 'The real paradigm shift will take place when our machines have that regenerative capability as well,' he says, 'at which point we will move from emulation to augmentation.'
The divorced father of two credits his upbringing for his fearlessness.
'We were told that anything is possible if you want it enough. Our parents said, 'Whatever you do, do it well. If you're a ditch digger, build beautiful ditches.' So out of that cultural framework comes a lot of my creative aspirations and capabilities.
'People who are creative don't view life as a series of successes and failures. They view life as a process of discovery and inspiration. From that comes the fearlessness required for creation and the ability to believe in something that doesn't yet exist.'
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