"I Leave My Wheelchair Behind Up In The Air"
Tammy Duckworth, a former Black Hawk helicopter pilot who lost both her legs to a rocket-propelled grenade in Iraq, won't let herself be grounded, writes Katherine Skiba in the LA Times:
On the flight one recent Sunday, she's accompanied by a flight instructor and wears only one artificial leg. It's for her left leg, which still has a knee. The single prosthesis works both rudder pedals, making for some fancy footwork at 2,000 feet.What remains of her right leg is three inches of femur, and its full-length prosthesis "gets in the way" while flying. "It's too high an amputation," she said.
For 85 minutes, Duckworth carves the skies, traveling up to 109 mph, and practices turns, stalls and landings. Elementary maneuvers for a student pilot, but exhilarating.
"It's joy when I'm back in the aircraft and I'm up in the air," she said, "because this is what I used to do."
Duckworth had logged more than 1,000 hours of flight time over 11 years and had won promotion to major in the Illinois National Guard when her part-time career in military aviation came to an abrupt, fiery halt on Nov. 12, 2004.
An insurgent blasted her helicopter with a rocket-propelled grenade that ripped through the cockpit floor and left her body a bloody tangle of flesh and bone. The other pilot got the damaged aircraft down.
Duckworth's legs were gravely injured and her right arm was practically severed. In Baghdad, a vascular surgeon operated through the night to salvage the arm. "He wasn't about to let me be a triple amputee," she said.
By her husband's estimate, it took 20 units of blood to keep her alive. At one point her heart gave out. "There's no earthly reason I should have survived," she said.
Working today in Washington, she is not self-conscious about her wounds or high-tech prostheses, favoring skirts and short-sleeved blazers. She walks with two artificial legs and a cane or she uses a wheelchair.
..."I never thought some guy . . . in Iraq should change my life's plan for me," she said. "That's for me to decide. Not just some dude who got lucky and shot me down."
I am remembering earlier columns against private aircraft.
So, it'll be OK for this woman to fly her own private, general-aviation aircraft, but not other people?
Radwaste at September 2, 2009 2:12 AM
Something I have been wondering about, and this blog post exemplifies it: fair use. Amy, you are a writer, and certainly aware of the issues.
In this blog post, you have quoted the entire heart of an article, adding essentially no content of your own. Isn't this way beyond the bounds of fair use?
Imagine if someone else started a blog, and put up posts containing major chunks of your columns. Seems to me you would be pretty unhappy about it...
bradley13 at September 2, 2009 3:13 AM
That Tammy Duckworth's got some determination. Good on her!
old rpm daddy at September 2, 2009 4:58 AM
"An insurgent" my ass. They can't even correctly name the enemy who did this to her.
Robin at September 2, 2009 6:26 AM
Reminds me of an Englishman who suffered a similar fate and was determined not to let it hold him back.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_Bader
Conan the Grammarian at September 2, 2009 8:48 AM
One tough lady.
This is how women can earn respect.
Those who demand respect because they happen to own a vagina might take a lesson from this woman.
Jay R at September 2, 2009 10:02 AM
Jay R, if I had a prosthetic vagina, would you respect that?
Kristen at September 2, 2009 12:55 PM
Kristen, that depends on what it's made of. ;)
Cousin Dave at September 2, 2009 1:27 PM
Well, Cousin Dave, mine is made of gold. ;)
Kristen at September 2, 2009 2:09 PM
In this blog post, you have quoted the entire heart of an article, adding essentially no content of your own. Isn't this way beyond the bounds of fair use?
Good question -- I posted part of it, with the intention of whetting people's appetite for more, not stealing it. I try not to post so much, but when I tried to post less of this, it was kind of a mess.
And Rad, as my friend I had drinks with last night said (she's a reporter) she'd only go up in a plane or helicopter with somebody who's flown in Vietnam or the Gulf wars. (I'm guessing she'd also go up with a commercial airline pilot.)
The small planes you hear about crashing all the time? Usually civilians who fly as a hobby. I pity the people who live near small airports because of these hobbyists.
And again, you've flown missions over Iraq and you want to fly a fixed-wing aircraft now you're home? Up, up and away! Have fun!
Amy Alkon at September 2, 2009 2:16 PM
Amy Alkon
http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2009/09/02/i_leave_my_whee.html#comment-1666027">comment from Amy AlkonActually, Bradley, I thought about what you said, and took out two paragraphs. I guess I think with a piece as compelling as this that people will be compelled to read the whole thing. I was exhausted when I looked for it (my friend, a reporter, told me the story) and I read every word. This woman's a real inspiration.
Amy Alkon
at September 2, 2009 2:23 PM
And again, you've flown missions over Iraq and you want to fly a fixed-wing aircraft now you're home? Up, up and away! Have fun!
So, what makes this person a better pilot?
Hint: it's not suffering.
Apparently, tour of duty in Iraq = good pilot. My groundpounder pal in antiair artillery will be happy to hear that. He's been wanting his own Cessna for some time.
By the way: count the dead in airliners this year. How many "hobbyist" deaths were there? You hear about all of them because they're a novelty.
Don't miss JACDEC.
Radwaste at September 2, 2009 3:50 PM
Sorry rad try again, the pilot in question was a pilot while on duty in Iraq nt just any service member but one trained to fly.
Now if you want to say your artilery buddy is more qualifed to own a cannon the pirate enthusiasts it would be a valid comparison
lujlp at September 2, 2009 4:01 PM
that should be 'more qualifed than pirate . . '
lujlp at September 2, 2009 4:03 PM
FYI, flying rotary wing and fixed wing aircraft are two VERY DIFFERENT exercises with widely divergent (almost non-related) skill sets.
The article points out she can fly a fixed with no modifications, but will require modified controls to fly a rotary wing aircraft.
Conan the Grammarian at September 2, 2009 4:46 PM
This lady was on a Radio 4 program called "No Triumph No Tragedy" (UK BBC channel) this afternoon describing the incident and the effect it's had on her life (it's worth looking up - you can usually listen to these shows again over the net).
A very courageous lady and a campaigner for public health care in the States as well as believing that the Iraq War should never have been started.
James at September 3, 2009 7:54 AM
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