Local native helping amputees in new role

By T.J. Turrisi

Amy Palmiero-Winters has had quite a journey over the past three decades. Since watching her first race with her father at age eight — and then running in her first event later that year — the 37-year-old Meadville native has covered plenty of ground.

In fact, her most recent time-trial saw her run, amazingly, well over 100 miles in a grueling 24-hour race.

Now a resident of Hicksville, N.Y., and a full-time employee at A Step Ahead Prosthetics & Orthotics, a company which specializes in designing and fitting customized artificial limbs for amputees, Palmiero-Winters has moved on from marathons to ultramarathons and now to 24-hour marathons.

On New Year’s Eve, she became the first amputee runner to defeat all able-bodied runners at the “Run to the Future” in Glendale, Ariz.

The race took place on a sixth-tenths-of-a-mile course which she traversed for 217 laps and 130.4 miles. Palmiero-Winters finished 14 miles ahead of the male winner and more than 36 miles ahead of the second-place female finisher.

Based on that performance, Palmiero-Winters has qualified to participate as part of the United States able-bodied team

to compete in the 24-hour-run world championships in Brive, France, in May. She expects to run more than 140 miles in that race.

“It’s funny because I started running when I was eight,” she said. “And here I am now almost 30 years later and I am running ultramarathons. It just goes to show what you can achieve if you do have the courage to follow your dreams. It’s an honor. Since I am the only amputee to do this, hopefully it will help other people.”

Palmiero-Winters lost her left leg from the knee down in a motorcycle accident in 1994 but continued her track and field career despite the setback.

She credits her family and the Meadville area for giving her a strong background in running to get her through the accident, which happened when she was 21, a few years after she was a varsity track and field athlete at Meadville Area Senior High School.

“I am lucky to come from such a strong background,” she said. “It’s almost like it’s not just me but all of Meadville that will be representing the United States. You can’t get to where I have gotten by yourself.”



Remembering Tom McNally

Her most recent win in Arizona is one she said she wishes recently deceased local runner Tom McNally could have seen.

“He was the person who got me started in running marathons,” she said. “He would be very, very proud of what we are accomplishing.”

McNally, a popular Meadville area businessman and fitness guru, died from cancer in November 2008 at age 57. Among his special interests were creating and improving the area’s Ernst Hiking and Biking Trail and encouraging the athletic efforts of others.

The race in Glendale was quite a challenge for A Step Ahead staff and for Amy, as the New York group had not ever created a prosthesis for a race of more than 100 miles. The race is run on a banked track with a change of directions and very little stoppage, so quite a bit of research was necessary.

“This is a whole other envelope than typical marathoning,” A Step Ahead Prosthetics owner and prosthetician Erik Shaffer said. “It’s a whole different ballgame with technology, alignment and building of the prosthesis. It’s a real process.

“The 100-mile races have so much going on with how your body changes,” Shaffer said. “Even with how experienced I am, it’s a lot to figure out in terms of geometry, body chemistry and how it all changes during the race. The amazing thing is, she only had to remove her prosthesis four times in 130 miles.”

“It’s taken a lot of work on (Shaffer’s) part and my part as far as communication,” Palmiero-Winters said. “The only time your feet stop is if you have to use the rest-room. The only time I stop is to change my prosthesis.”

And, with runners burning between 8,000 and 12,000 calories, nourishment was another challenge. For Amy, it meant having a friend join her on the track every hour. Running side by side, the friend would hand her food and drink.



Mind-boggling show

Shaffer knows Palmiero-Winters pretty well, so her overachieving is not a huge surprise. But winning this race in the manner she did is still something he has trouble comprehending.

“Being able to come out on top just boggles the mind,” Shaffer said. “She is absolutely one of the best in the world at what she’s doing and she’s proving that, prosthetic or not.

“If anything, she was at such a disadvantage because of the grade of the track and running around in circles with the prosthesis. She really had herself a perfect race.”

It took between three and four days for her to rest and recover after the race, and Palmiero-Winters is now doing double workouts to get ready for May.



New positions helps Amy make a difference with other amputees

Amy Palmiero-Winters’ new job is a far cry from being a welder at Leech Industries in Meadville, a job she performed here for several years before embarking on a new career in 2007.

Now living in Hicksville, N.Y., Amy is program coordinator for Team A Step Ahead. The 37-year-old mother of two is employed by her Team’s parent company, A Step Ahead Prosthetics & Orthotics, which specializes in designing and fitting customized artificial limbs for amputees, and directs sports programs and teams for adults and children who have lost limbs.

“The things I can do here (for Team A Step Ahead) can make so much of a difference,” she said.

Team A Step Ahead participates in but is not limited to activities such as running, cycling, skiing, tennis, golf, equestrian, rowing, lacrosse, baseball, football, basketball, ice hockey, softball, soccer, swimming, scuba diving, weightlifting and wrestling.

“I run two different sports teams,” she said. “I have an adults team and a junior team with children from 18 months up to 18 years.”

In her spare time, apart from that position and her training and running in marathons and triathlons, she is also working with a New York-based non-profit organization called Aspire, again working with little kids who have limb loss.

“I do different activities with them,” she said. “I recently took them all ice skating then trapezing in New York City.”

Palmiero-Winters’ passion lies in working with children and helping them understand that their situation does not limit the possibilities.

“My main focus is on the kids,” she said. “All the different activities we get involved in give them the experiences and then helps them set goals outside of what they may have chosen normally.

“When I lost my leg, I was strong because of my upbringing. These little kids lose their limbs at such a young age they steer away from doing these types of activities. This really helps them build confidence.”

Aspire film productions is currently filming a documentary on the things Palmiero-Winters and the children are doing with hopes of eventually selling it to a bigger company, possibly for national viewing. “It’s on the junior team and all the things with little kids,” she said.



T.J. Turrisi can be reached at 724-6370 or by e-mail at tjturrisi@meadvilletribune.com.

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