War veteran will get first of high-tech prosthetics in Waterloo

One Iraq war veteran double amputee will soon get new legs, and he'll get them right here in Eastern Iowa.

Greenfield, Missouri's Derick Hurt is the first veteran in the country to get the latest technology in prosthetics.  Waterloo is one of two places in the world with the ability to give him the tools to be more mobile.

The new technology means a more normal life for Hurt.  Lighter, stronger, faster sum up what the new walking sockets will mean for him and others who've lost limbs.

“They think I'm a robot man or something,” Hurt said.

Over the past several years, Hurt, an Iraq war veteran, has gotten used to walking with prosthetics.

"Derick was the first patient we made a leg for at Walter Reed,” said Clark & Associates President Dennis Clark.

Hurt lost his right leg in September 2003 while serving in Iraq as an army sergeant.

"I took the blunt of a grenade.  It pretty much landed in between my feet and took the right leg off immediately and messed up my left leg and foot pretty bad,” said Hurt.

Hurt had the left leg amputated in March 2009.  Since then, he's been using walking sockets that weigh about a pound and a half each.  The new walking sockets are two-thirds lighter.

Waterloo's Clark and Associates has one of two machines in the entire world that make this prosthetic.

"When I first started, we were still making legs out of wood,” said Clark.

But a new machine weaves carbon fiber into the shape that snugly fits around an amputee's limb.

"What we do is give them function and comfort and the ability to do whatever they want to do,” said Clark.

Hurt does a lot, from skiing to scuba diving.  He'll be the first veteran to test out the new technology, with hopes of leading the life he did before his injuries.

"It's so much lighter and stronger and just the weight difference.  I'll be able to walk easier,” said Hurt.

Hurt will test out the new walking sockets this week in Waterloo before he returns home to Missouri.  Hurt and the prosthetic team from Clark and Associates will travel back to Walter Reed Hospital in a couple months to officially introduce the product to other veterans.