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Rick Cavens, Ken Cook, Jeff Hancock, and Dan Stone: 'Team Rebuild' Inspires at Pole Pedal Paddle
By Sherry Metzger
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From left: Jeff Hancock, Dan Stone, Rick Cavens, and Ken Cook. |
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Every May in Bend, Oregon
, the locals come out to cheer and watch as athletes participate in one of the region's most popular outdoor events of the year—The Pole Pedal Paddle (PPP). Last year, Summit Prosthetics & Orthotics, Bend, Oregon, sponsored Team Rebuild, a relay team made up of Jeff Hancock, Prineville, Oregon; Rick Cavens, Bend; Dan Stone, Sunriver, Oregon; and Ken Cook, Bend. The all-amputee team, which did not enter the race as a disabled team, inspired the spectators with an emotional finish.
Bend, the largest city in central Oregon, sits near the Cascade Mountain Range and Deschutes River, making it a perfect location for the Pole Pedal Paddle. In its 31st year, the U.S. Bank-sponsored competition attracts individual and team participants with five different events. The race begins with an Alpine ski at Mt. Bachelor, a five-mile cross-country ski leg, and 22-mile bike ride to Bend. Participants then paddle down the Deschutes River in a canoe or kayak, and then back upstream. Finally, a five-mile run culminates with a sprint to the finish line in Drake Park.
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Dan Stone crosses the finish line. |
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Cameron Coker, CPO, and Scott Peterson, CO, CPed, of Summit P&O brought this, the first (and at the time, the only) all-amputee team to ever compete in the PPP together. "We were looking for something to try to revive their outdoor, active lifestyle and help them get going again," Coker said in the local Bend paper, The Bulletin. "Everybody just jumped on it." Coker designs, builds, and maintains the prosthetic limbs for each team member, including a special foot for Hancock to clip into his bike and one to help Stone run.
In a KTVZ channel 21 interview, 41-year-old Hancock, who did the downhill ski and bike portions of the race, said, "I like to be pushed. When I'm on the bike or skiing, it's freedom. I don't need a handicap; I'm not handicapped." Hancock, a ranch manager, is also a water-skier. Forty-eight-year-old Cavens, the teams' cross-country skier, adds, "One thing amputees have that a lot of people don't have is that they're great problem solvers. There isn't anything I can't do." Cavens skis without his prosthetic arm, powering his cross-country skis solely by his legs and right pole.
Cook did the kayak portion of the race, despite never having kayaked before. Stone was the teams' runner and took most of the five-mile leg at a fast walk, but began to run as he approached the finish line for an inspiring and emotional finish. Though the team was the last to finish, all members were challenged and proud of their efforts.
One thing all four members of Team Rebuild have in common is that they all lost their limbs as a result of accidents, as opposed to disease. Hancock lost his left leg above the knee in a farming accident in 1993. While working for a rock-crushing company, Cavens lost his left arm above the elbow in a 1976 pulley accident. After five surgeries to try to restore a badly crushed left ankle after a wrestling accident, Stone made the decision to have his leg amputated below the knee. And for Cook, a comparatively recent car accident in 2005 resulted in the amputation of his left leg below the knee.
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Ken Cook displays his newfound kayaking skills. |
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"I lost my left leg about five inches below the knee, and the rest of my leg was badly damaged, but thanks to the efforts of a team of very good surgeons, they were able to save the rest of the leg," Cook said. "I have a titanium rod from my hip to my knee."
Cook, who was asked to participate in the PPP just three months after his accident, says meeting the other three men on the team provided for much-needed camaraderie. "Although I have to admit to a lot of trepidation about being able to participate at that point, I was excited to meet other amputees because I had a lot of questions about how they coped with everyday challenges," he says. "I liked meeting and sharing experiences with other amputees. I found out that we were somewhat unique in that we were all traumatic amputees, whereas most amputations are a result of some disease such as diabetes."
The 55-year old graphic designer enjoys free time with his wife of 25 years, three children, and five grandchildren, as well as traveling and tending to his ten-acre property. Showing that his amputation hasn't slowed him down, Cook continues to do the things he loves and says he's being challenged by new experiences. For example, he had never kayaked before being asked to join Team Rebuild as its kayaker, but decided to give it a shot. "The closest I had been to being in a kayak before the Pole Pedal Paddle was a canoe with a friend in a high mountain lake in Oregon. We were fishing and at one point both leaned the wrong way and tipped it over. Although the shore was only about 20 feet away, we didn't think we were going to make it because the water was as cold as could be without actually being ice. For some reason I figured that experience qualified me to be the kayaker on the team. I was not big into sports before the accident. I was a fairly active person who liked hiking and motorcycle riding. I am slowly getting back into the hiking part but have given up motorcycle riding in deference to my family. Ironically, I had just gotten my motorcycle out of the shop after a fairly bad accident that had put me into the emergency room for six hours and about 40 stitches. The big accident occurred while I was checking the bike out to see if it still rode okay. Bottom line is that my wife is tired of getting calls from hospitals."
Cook says that a nurse who visited him after his leg was amputated inspired him. "I was visited by a male RN who had lost his leg from a land mine in Vietnam. He made it a point to come visit with every patient who had lost a limb and tried to assure them that it was going to be okay. He even came to my house after I was discharged in order to show me how his prosthesis worked. That was something that I needed very badly at that point in my rehab. I will be eternally grateful to him for that." Cook adds, "I have to say that simply returning to work and being able to be a productive part of society was huge for me."
At this year's PPP, Team Rebuild won't be the only all-amputee team to compete. Two additional amputee teams will be competing as well. Cook says he's excited to participate again because he's much further along in his recovery then he was a year ago. "I have already begun my training regimen, which consists of switching from Coors to Coors Light," he jokes. On a more serious note, he adds, "My biggest piece of advice to other amputees is to simply hang in there and get through each day until you have adjusted to the situation. Human beings have an amazing ability to adjust to just about anything. There are only two choices for amputees—or for anyone in a difficult situation for that matter. You can give up or go on. Don't give up."
Sherry Metzger, MS, is a freelance writer with degrees in anatomy and neurobiology. She is based in Westminster, Colorado, and can be reached at sherry@opedge.com 
Table Of Contents - June 2007
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