LOOK.....I'M
WALKING!
By
Carolyn Clawson
My
legs felt like ten-ton weights. It
was so hard to move them.....
until
one day I tried on a strange new pair of shoes and literally walked
into a whole new world. My life
took on new dimensions, and this
is
my story.
It
was in 1966 when I discovered I had Multiple Sclerosis. The first
three
years were trying as my walking become more difficult.
I resorted
to
Canadian canes and the wheelchair. Nothing
seemed to stop the
downhill
trend of the disease. I gave up all
outside activities as
taking
care of my home and family were all I could cope with.
This too
was
becoming more and more difficult.
One
day, I tried on a friend's pair of shoes. The
shoes were clogs, not
something
I would have tried on my own, but when she suggested I try
them,
I found I could stand much easier in them.
I only took a few
steps,
but something seemed to be different. On
hearing this, she had a
pair
sent to me two weeks later. As soon
as I put them on, I realized
that
I could stand without help. I was
using crutches but as I started
to
walk, I had a strange sensation of gliding, effortlessly! My legs no
longer
felt heavy. I put down my crutches
and WALKED! How could this
be?
I felt a miracle had taken place.
Later,
when I tried other clogs, I found I couldn't walk in them.
It
was
then I realized there must have been something different about that
first
pair. So the real miracle was not
just that I was walking, but
that
they had unknowingly sent me a pair of clogs with very special
dimensions
which allowed me to walk. Mere
chance? Maybe!
From
the first, I felt others with walking problems could also benefit
from
these shoes. News spread of my
discovery and people soon began
asking
if they could be helped as well. I
didn't know, but was anxious
to
find out. I obtained a few pair of
the same brand of clogs to
experiment
with, and my great adventure began.
My
hunch was correct! It did help.....
some, more than others. It
certainly
didn't cure M.S., but with the shoes there was much less
fatigue,
easier mobility and longer endurance. Much
to my amazement,
many
types of problems were helped besides M.S., things I hadn't even
thought
of such as: arthritis, fracture problems, cerebral palsy and
stroke.
My excitement mounted as I saw my miracle repeated though not
usually
with the dramatic results I had experienced.
I could see I had
stumbled
onto something which could be of great value in the field of
rehabilitation
but there were so many questions which needed to be
answered.
How did this shoe allow us to walk easier?
Why were some
helped
and others not? Why did one kind of
clog work while others,
which
looked the same, did not? I needed
help and couldn't rest until I
found
it.
None
of the medical professionals in my surrounding area had been able
to
answer my questions. Finally, I was
directed to Dr. Jacquelin Perry,
an
orthopedic surgeon with a particular interest in the field of
kinesiology.
She was the Chief of Patho-kinesiology Service at the
Rancho
Los Amigos Hospital in Downey, California.
After a long wait, I
was
able to get an appointment and flew to California.
Testing was done
which
provided interesting information which aided Dr. Perry in
unraveling
the mystery of the rocker shoe. She
became very interested
in
my project and has been an integral part of it since then.
She
advised
and gave counsel as I continued to work with individuals.
Later,
through means of a grant given by the V.A. Prosthetic Center in
New
York, she was able to do a clinical study which provided data
necessary
to write a medical paper.
In
the spring of 1978, I was faced with a problem I had feared for
years.
A small change had been made in the shoe's sole which made them
useless
for those of us with walking problems. I
knew the time had come
for
me to go to Denmark as it was imperative the manufacturer be aware
of
what he was dealing with. When they
saw what their shoe could
accomplish.....
they were astounded! From then on,
they were more than
willing
to work with me in designing a more easily fitted shoe.
They
also
realized the importance of total accuracy in the wooden sole as
this
was the most critical factor. It
took eighteen months before the
newly
designed shoe was available. It was
used for the first time at a
pilot
training seminar in Toms River, New Jersey and proved to be more successful than
anticipated.
In
1979, Dr. Perry gave an oral presentation on, "The Rocker Shoe as a
Walking
Aid for Multiple Sclerosis," to the American Congress of
Rehabilitation
Medicine. Later, in February of
1981, a paper was
published
in the ARCHIVES OF PHYSICAL MEDICINE AND REHABILITATION.
I
now
felt the information was in good hands.
I
went back to being a housewife and mother.
Much to my frustration,
However,three
years went by and nothing had been done to get the
information
to the people needing it. I
realized if they were to know
of
it, I would have to take it to them. My
work had really just begun,
as
the biggest battle was yet to be fought. The
big question was how to
go
about it. With the help of my son
and the media, we started holding
clinics
where we could work directly with those who had walking
problems.
As people started walking, they took the information to their
doctors
and therapists and by seeing their own patients' improvement,
the
medical community became interested.
Over
the next 2 years, 24 clinics were held in various states. We
worked
with approximately 2,000 people with a 50 percent success rate.
The
first national exposure came through HOUR MAGAZINE on March 6, 1986,
and
due to the overwhelming response, a second segment was aired on
April
15, 1986. Over 50,000 calls and
letters were received from
viewers
showing the tremendous need for this discovery. This created a
demand
making continued marketing research and development feasible.
We
are
currently developing children's shoes as they also have problems
which
can be helped by this shoe. The
future promises to be exciting!
When
I look over the last fifteen years, I am amazed all this could have
happened
to me.....an ordinary housewife from a small town in Idaho.
It
has
been a tremendous learning experience. To
see others given the
opportunity
to walk again as I had, has made the whole thing worthwhile.
There
is no greater freedom than the ability to walk.
Carolyn
P. Clawson
Copyright
1986
