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BY AMY DOMINELLO
Media General News Service
ARLINGTON, Va. – Most parents would have difficulty keeping up with two young boys, but it can be especially tough for Dale Beatty.
Both of Beatty’s legs were amputated below the knee due to injuries he sustained in Iraq when the Humvee he was in struck a landmine.
Beatty, 29, of Statesville, N.C., can walk with his prosthetic legs. But his energy level can drop quickly while chasing around Dustin, 6, and Lucas, 4.
“It’s difficult for everybody,” Beatty said. “Once you start getting tired, you’re done for the day.”
Now, he’ll have a way to keep up. On Tuesday, Beatty and about 30 other Iraqi war veterans were given Segways through the Segs4Vets program.
“The VA will give you a wheelchair, but you can’t go on grass,” Beatty said. “This goes faster than most people can run.”
The program started in 2005 for service members who lost limbs or suffered disabling injuries in Iraq and Afghanistan. It is funded by the non-profit group Disability Rights Advocates for Technology.
A Segway offers more mobility without having to be in a wheelchair, said Jerry Kerr, a cofounder of both DRAFT and the Segs4Vets program. A Segway keeps the user at eye-level, which is a physical and psychological boost to users.
“Our goal is for them to be standing and for them to enjoy the benefits of standing,” he said.
Segways are used primarily by people without disabilities, but Kerr said the best use of the machine is for people who have difficulty walking. A badge indicating the user is handicapped is strapped to the front of the Segway, so users aren’t bothered in places they might not typically be allowed.
Most of the war veterans took to the Segways easily. As they balanced along the Segway’s small platform held atop two wheels, they grasped the handlebars and zoomed around the Sheraton Hotel, where they were set up to practice.
Kathy Segar, owner of Annapolis Segway Tours, introduced Steven Curry to his “new best friend” and ran down the basics with him: how to step on to the machine, how to turn and how to stop. She reassured him that the machine – which goes up to 12 mph - won’t fall backward or forward. And he can go off-roading with it on dirt, grass or gravel.
“It’s just like a bike,” Segar told Curry, a Salisbury, N.C. native who now lives in Ashburn, Va.
“This is wild,” said Curry, 25, as he started rolling.
After taking the Segway for a spin outside, he was sore from standing but traveled much farther than he could on his own.
“It’s a lot better than trying to walk that far,” said Curry, who lost his left leg below the knee due to an IED explosion. “I think we went 3 or 4 miles and it didn’t take us that long.”
All the money raised for Segs4Vets goes to the all-volunteer program, Kerr said. Each Segway – along with training the user and shipping -- costs the group about $6,200.
By the end of the year, the growing program hopes to have doled out more than 250 Segways in all.
Many of the veterans who receive the Segways are headed back to school and had faced long walks across campus. Others say it will be much easier to keep up with their children and do their jobs.
Some family and friends have big plans for them too.
Jimmy Kinsey, a native of Foley, Ala., fought to hang onto his left leg for a year and a half after he was injured in an IED blast in Iraq. The 23-year-old’s left leg was amputated below the knee in July.
His wife, Karie Fugett, was glad the Segway will make her husband more mobile. She’s thinking about going to see the monuments in Washington. And maybe now she’ll be able to persuade Kinsey to go shoe-shopping with her.
“I’m thinking of all the things we can do now,” Fugett said.
Contact Amy Dominello at 202-662-7671 or adominello@mediageneral.com
On the Web: www.segs4vets.org
Media General News Service
ARLINGTON, Va. – Most parents would have difficulty keeping up with two young boys, but it can be especially tough for Dale Beatty.
Both of Beatty’s legs were amputated below the knee due to injuries he sustained in Iraq when the Humvee he was in struck a landmine.
Beatty, 29, of Statesville, N.C., can walk with his prosthetic legs. But his energy level can drop quickly while chasing around Dustin, 6, and Lucas, 4.
“It’s difficult for everybody,” Beatty said. “Once you start getting tired, you’re done for the day.”
Now, he’ll have a way to keep up. On Tuesday, Beatty and about 30 other Iraqi war veterans were given Segways through the Segs4Vets program.
“The VA will give you a wheelchair, but you can’t go on grass,” Beatty said. “This goes faster than most people can run.”
The program started in 2005 for service members who lost limbs or suffered disabling injuries in Iraq and Afghanistan. It is funded by the non-profit group Disability Rights Advocates for Technology.
A Segway offers more mobility without having to be in a wheelchair, said Jerry Kerr, a cofounder of both DRAFT and the Segs4Vets program. A Segway keeps the user at eye-level, which is a physical and psychological boost to users.
“Our goal is for them to be standing and for them to enjoy the benefits of standing,” he said.
Segways are used primarily by people without disabilities, but Kerr said the best use of the machine is for people who have difficulty walking. A badge indicating the user is handicapped is strapped to the front of the Segway, so users aren’t bothered in places they might not typically be allowed.
Most of the war veterans took to the Segways easily. As they balanced along the Segway’s small platform held atop two wheels, they grasped the handlebars and zoomed around the Sheraton Hotel, where they were set up to practice.
Kathy Segar, owner of Annapolis Segway Tours, introduced Steven Curry to his “new best friend” and ran down the basics with him: how to step on to the machine, how to turn and how to stop. She reassured him that the machine – which goes up to 12 mph - won’t fall backward or forward. And he can go off-roading with it on dirt, grass or gravel.
“It’s just like a bike,” Segar told Curry, a Salisbury, N.C. native who now lives in Ashburn, Va.
“This is wild,” said Curry, 25, as he started rolling.
After taking the Segway for a spin outside, he was sore from standing but traveled much farther than he could on his own.
“It’s a lot better than trying to walk that far,” said Curry, who lost his left leg below the knee due to an IED explosion. “I think we went 3 or 4 miles and it didn’t take us that long.”
All the money raised for Segs4Vets goes to the all-volunteer program, Kerr said. Each Segway – along with training the user and shipping -- costs the group about $6,200.
By the end of the year, the growing program hopes to have doled out more than 250 Segways in all.
Many of the veterans who receive the Segways are headed back to school and had faced long walks across campus. Others say it will be much easier to keep up with their children and do their jobs.
Some family and friends have big plans for them too.
Jimmy Kinsey, a native of Foley, Ala., fought to hang onto his left leg for a year and a half after he was injured in an IED blast in Iraq. The 23-year-old’s left leg was amputated below the knee in July.
His wife, Karie Fugett, was glad the Segway will make her husband more mobile. She’s thinking about going to see the monuments in Washington. And maybe now she’ll be able to persuade Kinsey to go shoe-shopping with her.
“I’m thinking of all the things we can do now,” Fugett said.
Contact Amy Dominello at 202-662-7671 or adominello@mediageneral.com
On the Web: www.segs4vets.org