More sophisticated prosthetics sometimes require a sacrifice
(NEWSER) - Increasingly, amputees who have already lost limbs are going to their doctors to ask them to remove more. The choice, which the New York Times calls "once unthinkable," comes as artificial limbs are becoming vastly more sophisticated. For people like Ann Kornhauser, whose prosthetic foot left her in constant discomfort, a more high-tech model can offer relief—but, in Kornhauser's case and many others, it would only fit if she got her left leg amputated below the knee. "I knew that I would have a life" with the new leg, even though it meant losing more, she says. "I was able to walk again." More»
