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CNN Saturday Morning News

Being an Amputee has Hardly Slowed Down Cameron Clapp

Aired June 07, 2003 - 09:50   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, there are nearly 2 million amputees in the United States. But for many, losing a limb has hardly slowed them down at all.
SANJAY GUPTA, CNN ANCHOR: Yes. And as our Kevin Sites has a story of one such teenager who is a competitive swimmer, runner, and triathlete. More than anything, though, he's an inspiration.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CAMERON CLAPP: Life is unfair. Some people get it hard, some people get it easy.

KEVIN SITES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Cameron Clapp never saw the train that hit him. When he woke up in the hospital three days later, both legs and his right arm were gone. That was almost two years ago.

CLAPP: You almost feel like you're not beat, you know.

SITES: It was an unforgiving new reality, but Cameron says he accepted it almost immediately.

CLAPP: It was like I was born again when I woke up. It was like a whole new life.

SITES: And with the support of his family...

CLAPP: Does it bother you?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.

CLAPP: No?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.

SITES: ... and a new generation of prosthetics, he took his first steps and stumbled on his path to become whole again, a path in which he's no longer content to just walk.

CLAPP: It's not only hard to run without legs and with one arm, but it makes you really tired after one lap.

SITES: Now he runs almost every night at this track near his home on California's central coast, preparing for the Endeavor Games, and maybe someday the ParaOlympics. His mother, Bernie (ph), and his stepfather, Bill Crane, his biggest fans.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go, Cam!

SITES: As he completes a grueling full lap around the track, even a distant train whistle seems to give him a salute.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's really hard not to (UNINTELLIGIBLE) about it and just get choked up every time I watch him run.

SITES: Especially after one doctor told the family that Cameron would never walk again, with the possible exception of a few steps on his graduation or his wedding day. Now, using special prosthetic sockets, computerized hydraulic knees, and carbon fiber sprint feet, Cameron can cover 100 meters in under 20 seconds.

CLAPP: It kind of feels like I'm flying, but at the same time, I don't have wings.

SITES: But life is never easy. Just putting on his prosthetic legs is an elaborate morning ritual, each day, a struggle for balance on a set of high-tech stilts.

CLAPP: Simply talking to somebody while walking, you know. I mean, even that's a hard task for me.

SITES: There are mechanical breakdowns.

CLAPP: Technical difficulties.

SITES: And people looking at him differently.

CLAPP: When you go to school, you can tell all your friends you met this kid that's half robot.

SITES: And though he's popular at school, voted this year's prom king, typical teenage concerns become more complicated.

CLAPP: That's going to be the hardest thing in my life, is girls. Not my disability, but girls.

SITES: But rather than being crippled by his accident, Cameron has stolen its power, even turning a tiny train into a good luck charm.

With only one limb left, he is a body in constant motion, as fearless in the water as he is swift on land.

CLAPP: I'm trying my hardest, even though something bad happened to me. I'm not going to give up. I'm going to continue on with my life.

SITES: When he runs, he's an image of biomechanical grace, a boy in dogged pursuit of wholeness which he never really lost.

Kevin Sites, CNN, Pismo Beach, California.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GUPTA: Really a remarkable story. It takes someone almost three times as much energy to run if -- when you're a bilateral amputee than if you had both your legs, just one lap, saying he making him tired. What an inspiration.

COLLINS: Oh, I'm sure, I can't -- but it is so amazing, the prosthetics that they can use now. And I remember seeing something similar to that just a few years back, and it was just a total revelation, isn't it?

GUPTA: Yes, I mean, he's -- he said he felt like he was flying.

COLLINS: Yes.

GUPTA: He's able to swim, even. Really remarkable.

COLLINS: It's a great story.

GUPTA: Thanks, Kevin Sites.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired June 7, 2003 - 09:50   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, there are nearly 2 million amputees in the United States. But for many, losing a limb has hardly slowed them down at all.
SANJAY GUPTA, CNN ANCHOR: Yes. And as our Kevin Sites has a story of one such teenager who is a competitive swimmer, runner, and triathlete. More than anything, though, he's an inspiration.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CAMERON CLAPP: Life is unfair. Some people get it hard, some people get it easy.

KEVIN SITES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Cameron Clapp never saw the train that hit him. When he woke up in the hospital three days later, both legs and his right arm were gone. That was almost two years ago.

CLAPP: You almost feel like you're not beat, you know.

SITES: It was an unforgiving new reality, but Cameron says he accepted it almost immediately.

CLAPP: It was like I was born again when I woke up. It was like a whole new life.

SITES: And with the support of his family...

CLAPP: Does it bother you?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.

CLAPP: No?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.

SITES: ... and a new generation of prosthetics, he took his first steps and stumbled on his path to become whole again, a path in which he's no longer content to just walk.

CLAPP: It's not only hard to run without legs and with one arm, but it makes you really tired after one lap.

SITES: Now he runs almost every night at this track near his home on California's central coast, preparing for the Endeavor Games, and maybe someday the ParaOlympics. His mother, Bernie (ph), and his stepfather, Bill Crane, his biggest fans.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go, Cam!

SITES: As he completes a grueling full lap around the track, even a distant train whistle seems to give him a salute.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's really hard not to (UNINTELLIGIBLE) about it and just get choked up every time I watch him run.

SITES: Especially after one doctor told the family that Cameron would never walk again, with the possible exception of a few steps on his graduation or his wedding day. Now, using special prosthetic sockets, computerized hydraulic knees, and carbon fiber sprint feet, Cameron can cover 100 meters in under 20 seconds.

CLAPP: It kind of feels like I'm flying, but at the same time, I don't have wings.

SITES: But life is never easy. Just putting on his prosthetic legs is an elaborate morning ritual, each day, a struggle for balance on a set of high-tech stilts.

CLAPP: Simply talking to somebody while walking, you know. I mean, even that's a hard task for me.

SITES: There are mechanical breakdowns.

CLAPP: Technical difficulties.

SITES: And people looking at him differently.

CLAPP: When you go to school, you can tell all your friends you met this kid that's half robot.

SITES: And though he's popular at school, voted this year's prom king, typical teenage concerns become more complicated.

CLAPP: That's going to be the hardest thing in my life, is girls. Not my disability, but girls.

SITES: But rather than being crippled by his accident, Cameron has stolen its power, even turning a tiny train into a good luck charm.

With only one limb left, he is a body in constant motion, as fearless in the water as he is swift on land.

CLAPP: I'm trying my hardest, even though something bad happened to me. I'm not going to give up. I'm going to continue on with my life.

SITES: When he runs, he's an image of biomechanical grace, a boy in dogged pursuit of wholeness which he never really lost.

Kevin Sites, CNN, Pismo Beach, California.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GUPTA: Really a remarkable story. It takes someone almost three times as much energy to run if -- when you're a bilateral amputee than if you had both your legs, just one lap, saying he making him tired. What an inspiration.

COLLINS: Oh, I'm sure, I can't -- but it is so amazing, the prosthetics that they can use now. And I remember seeing something similar to that just a few years back, and it was just a total revelation, isn't it?

GUPTA: Yes, I mean, he's -- he said he felt like he was flying.

COLLINS: Yes.

GUPTA: He's able to swim, even. Really remarkable.

COLLINS: It's a great story.

GUPTA: Thanks, Kevin Sites.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com