"While I was in the hospital shortly after I lost my leg, I was very sick," recalled Bob. "One of the doctors told me that I was going to make it, but, in his opinion, two other guys who were less severely injured than I, weren't going to survive. The doctor told me that my attitude made the difference. 'Some guys when they lose a leg, think their life is over,' the doctor said. But, I had an uncle who was an amputee, and I knew that I was going to be ok," Bob explained.

After he worked for nearly 40 years as a thermal insulation contractor in Pittsburgh, a job which involved quite a bit of physical labor, most people still didn't know Bob was an amputee.

"I worked very hard on my gait to make sure that I could walk like everyone else."

"Nowadays, thanks to technology, I don't have to wear a wooden leg, leather corset, and wool sock liner. Replacing those wool socks with the new silicon liner has improved the comfort, fit and dryness on my stump," stated Bob of Charlotte, NC. "I wear my leg 12 to 14 hours a day, am very active and play golf on a regular basis."

"When I got my first leg from Larry Morton of Prosthetic Orthotic Care Center last February, he came to my house to cast the new socket-there wasn't even any plaster!" recalled a pleased Bob. "This leg new feels almost like its part of me-its a good leg!"

The Streiner family gathering - 1998

Bob is a walking historian as far as changes in artificial limbs are concerned. He notes:

"For many years, prosthetists were woodworkers who happened to fit limbs. Today there is so much emphasis on understanding physiology.

"When I was fit for my new limb, it was done at my house! I thought house calls were a thing of the past.

"When I lived in Pittsburgh there were more prosthetic limb shops than any other city in the world. World War I and II vets, along with steel mills and coal mines, made for good business."

"The dynamic foot on my new prosthesis definitely makes walking easier."