Amputee John VanSanden doesn't know the word "quit"

Tuesday, July 28th, 2009

WHITEHALL — Kayak racing is a bit like life.

That is, you’re never really sure how hard it can get until you spend a little time heading up stream.

Whitehall’s John VanSanden has learned that lesson in spades, not only inside a kayak — where he recently finished fourth out of 40 participants, seconds out of third place, at the 2009 Extremity Games — but also from his time spent away from the water, where life’s strong current isn’t always as easy to see.

“It took me 17 years to decide, after all the infections and stuff, to finally tell them I’d had enough,” said VanSanden, recounting his decision in 2005 to have doctors amputate his lower right leg. “It’s a crappy decision, but I just couldn’t take it.”

VanSanden’s amputation came as a result of a 1988 car accident. What followed was a painful series of surgeries (five in all) to save his leg, and then bouts with several infections. He said his hope that medical advancements in stem cell research would grant him a reprieve from amputation were just not enough to sustain him. “I was on antibiotics for over 10 years,” he recalled. “Instead of getting better, it continued to get worse.”

Once the decision was made, though, VanSanden refused to simply give up and give in, opting instead to keep what abilities he had before the amputation and perhaps strengthen others “I was essentially without that leg for awhile anyway,” said VanSanden, adding his injured right leg was already in such rough shape with atrophy following the accident that it was easier to get used to having just one leg following the amputation. Soon after, he was fitted with a prosthesis and received physical therapy from Mary Free Bed Hospital in Grand Rapids.VanSanden, who lives with his wife, Karyn, son and daughter, still raves about his first day with the prosthesis. “I put it on, the first leg I got, stood up and walked,” said VanSanden. “(The doctors) looked at me and said ‘Wow, we’ve never seen anyone do that before.’”

During his time with Mary Free Bed, the topic of participating in the Extremity Games, which started the year VanSanden had his leg removed, came up and he explored the idea. “I’d never kayaked before, but it was something we thought I could do.”

And this was the year he thought he could do it. VanSanden credits the folks over at Happy Mohawk Canoe Livery in Montague with letting him use a kayak with which to train. Nearly a month out from the competition, VanSanden took to the White River, spending hours going up river from Happy Mohawk to get into shape.

The technique paid off.

“Going up the river all the time, against the current all the time,” VanSanden explained, “…well, when I got to the lake (where the competition was held) it was like a piece of cake.” The kayak portion of the Extremity Games — which also features skateboarding, rock climbing, wakeboarding, mountain biking and motocross — was held at Holloway Reservoir in Davison. VanSanden cruised through the quarter and semifinal heats, and took his turn in the finals, finishing the course in 3 minutes, 25 seconds, six seconds off his time in the semifinals. The added seconds would prove fatal to VanSanden’s place-finishing hopes, as he came in fourth, just three seconds out of third place.

“They didn’t tells how we did until the awards ceremony,” said VanSanden. “Yeah, it was a bummer to find out I was so close.” VanSanden then admitted he was pretty proud of the way he finished. “I kept telling the guys, ‘As long as I don’t finish last, I’ll be happy.”

Because of his success, VanSanden — who, years ago, had a hand in discovering the Lamium Maculatum ‘Purple Dragon’ ground cover flower — said he will be back.

“Oh yeah,” he said with certainty, “I will do it again.”

For more information on Extremity Games or Athletes with Disabilities Network, contact 586-556-1761.