TightWind is written by Kyle Baxter. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

People suffering from hand or foot issues, or who had limbs amputated in the past, are choosing more extensive amputations so they can receive more capable prosthetics:

“The last couple of years, boy, my life started closing in on me because I couldn’t run anymore,” said Dr. White, 51, a family physician in Buena Vista, Colo. “It got so that doing something like taking a hike wasn’t fun anymore because it hurt too much.”

Dr. White had his left leg amputated just below the knee to get a sleek carbon-fiber foot. Three years later, he has started training for races again. “I made the decision to have an elective amputation so that I could have a chance to get back to my life,” he said. “It just dawned on me — the technology is amazing, and I would be better off.”

I don’t think the interesting part of this story is so much that people are choosing to have amputations or more extensive ones. What’s interesting about it—and heartening—is that more advanced prosthetics are providing people who, until very recently, would have been severely restricted in what they could physically do due to injury with a life comparable to what they had before.

Of course, these prosthetics are still very expensive, and as far as I can tell, many aren’t covered by health insurance. But hopefully that will improve with time, too.