Craig Vogtsberger: Back in the Race

Craig Vogtsberger lives a life of travel, activity, and athletics. He says it's the life he's always dreamed of but didn't dare imagine in the troubled years of recovery after his body was crushed between two vehicles in 2001. In those times, when he was foggy with pain medication and barely mobile, he says he couldn't see a future in which he would become an elite paratriathlete, winning several races including first place in the 2010 USA Paratriathlon National Championship-TRI-3 division and third place in the TRI-3 division of the 2013 Paratriathlon National Championship, and making the 2011 USA Paratriathlon National Team. He's sponsored by Allard USA, Rockaway, New Jersey, and is part of its TeamUP group of athletes with foot drop—all of whom wear an Allard USA orthosis and will be competing in athletic events and attending other awareness events designed to inspire others. Vogtsberger now spends most of his year traveling from race to race. "I've made it to Italy, England, Hungary, and New Zealand," he says. "Before the injury, I had never been to Europe. Through racing, I've seen more of the world than I had before." [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="540"] Vogtsberger pursues his racing passion. Photographs courtesy of Donald Vogtsberger.[/caption] Vogtsberger, 38, says that he's always been active. His father introduced him to cycling while he was in the sixth grade, and from there, he moved onto duathlons, and in college he took on triathlons. After college he became a federal police officer and was a member of the Army National Guard. While on National Guard duty in 2001, he was a few days from leaving for a peacekeeping mission in Bosnia when he stepped between two Humvees. The vehicles collided, and Vogtsberger was crushed between them. He was in and out of consciousness while he was rushed to the hospital where physicians treated massive trauma including a traumatic brain injury, an incomplete spinal cord injury (SCI), paralysis to his left leg, and dysautonomia, an insufficiency of the nervous system. "We knew he was going to live, but the doctors told him that he would spend the rest of his life sitting in a chair taking pain medication," says his mother Marilyn Vogtsberger. A Slow Recovery Vogtsberger says he tried to remain positive about his condition soon after his accident but that proved to be tough. "In the beginning, all of the doctors told me that I would be fine, and then a year into the injuries I was getting worse," he says. "That's when things started to go downhill mentally. It was depression, anger, and everything all at once." His injuries were so complex that his physicians had a hard time diagnosing what exactly was wrong. They prescribed pain killers to treat his near constant pain and told him there was not much hope of regaining his old lifestyle. For a long time he believed them, he says. His mother says she hated seeing him like that. "He was totally miserable. He gained a lot of weight," she says. "He had something like 50 containers of prescribed medications, and I don't think he would have made it if he kept living his life like that." At the time, Vogtsberger was living in Michigan and saw an advertisement for a local triathlon. He decided to go and watch, and while there, he says that he remembered the freedom he felt when he used to compete in them. He says he made a decision that he wanted that freedom back. "I stopped my medication, found a trainer, and started working on it," he says. Vogtsberger says his physicians were angry when they found out he had stopped taking his medications but eventually came around when they saw how much happier he was without them. Now he's down to just one medication that helps his body regulate his low blood pressure to a normal level. In 2008, physicians also diagnosed him with foot drop in his left leg, which he says was a blessing. "It's a relief when they can say what's going on because then they can start to treat it," Vogtsberger says. He was given a basic AFO at his first appointment with an orthotist. When Vogtsberger explained he would be running and cycling with it, the orthotist showed him an Allard BlueRocker™ and let Vogtsberger try it out. "Everything just clicked," he says. "I started running, and I haven't stopped." [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="340"] Photograph courtesy of Allard USA.[/caption] His current orthotist, Michael R. Hartley, CPO, Abilities Unlimited, Colorado Springs, Colorado, says that Vogtsberger's transformation in the past few years has been remarkable. "He's just a very dynamic guy, very likeable, a really great patient to be around," Hartley says. "He has a lot of higher-end activities and goals that are great, so he keeps me on my toes for sure." Since 2007, Vogtsberger has gone from barely being able to move to working out several times a day. He became an elite athlete once he was able to start training in earnest. In 2009 he won the XTERRA USA title for physically challenged athletes and has been one of the top-ranked paratriathletes in the nation. He gained Allard's sponsorship a few years into racing and has made it his full-time job ever since. An Uncertain Future Vogtsberger says he loves his life but knows that his future is anything but clear. The paralysis that started in his left leg after the accident is progressive. It has moved into his left shoulder and now requires him to wear a dynamic elbow orthosis when he rides his bike. The paralysis is starting to move into his right foot as well. "It has doctors concerned because it shouldn't be happening," Vogtsberger says. Hartley says he's aware of the progression, and it is always in the back of his and Vogtsberger's minds when Vogtsberger has an appointment. "We want to keep him at as high a level [of performance] and highly functioning as possible," Hartley says. "Hopefully it won't get much worse, but Craig is a young guy so it could get worse. I can't diagnose, but we're here for him and will take care of whatever he needs." His mother says the uncertainty worries her also. Along with the progressive paralysis, there is always the threat of another injury. With his SCI, a bad fall off of his bike could immobilize him for life. On the other hand, she says she knows that the races are what brought him out of his depression and gave him hope again. So, despite her concern for his future, she says she believes he is doing the right thing by doing what he loves right now. "He's doing everything he can to have a better quality of life," she says. "I admire what he does. I don't know if I could take the challenge on as he has." Physicians are still trying to determine why the paralysis is progressive and plan to do a series of tests later this year to pinpoint the reason. Vogtsberger has no idea if his condition will progress to the point where he can't compete or, even worse, if it will limit his life span. For now, though, he says he chooses to live in the moment rather than worry. "With the progressiveness of the paralysis, my right leg might not work tomorrow," he says. "But today I can run, so I focus on today." Maria St. Louis-Sanchez can be reached at msantray@yahoo.com

Craig Vogtsberger: Back in the Race

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Craig Vogtsberger: Back in the Race

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Certified Prosthetist / Prosthetist-Orthotist (CP/CPO) Gates Prosthetics + Mobility Clinic — Mountain Home, AR

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