Despite losing her leg to cancer in 2008, Daphne Hegreness, has persevered and climbed to new heights. She has become a runner, and is in training for the 2012 Paralympic Games in London. In order to even try to qualify for the games, however, Daphne needed a Cheetah Flex foot—but her insurance would not cover the cost of the high tech foot. Enter Houston-based charity, Limbs of Love, which covered the costs of the Cheetah. 

According to the manufacturer—Ossur—the Flex-Foot Cheetah is a J-shaped, high performance carbon composite prosthetic sprinting foot, designed to store and release energy in order to mimic the reaction of the anatomical foot/ankle joint of able bodied runners. The shape, which somewhat resembles the hind quarter of a Cheetah - hence the name - acts like a spring and shock absorber. The “J” curve is compressed at impact, storing energy as well as absorbing high levels of stress that would otherwise be absorbed by the user’s knee, hip, and lower back. At toe-off, the “J” returns back to its original shape, releasing a percentage of the stored energy and propelling the user forward. 

A company representative told OTW,

The Cheetah was developed in 1997. Every medalist in the 100m, 200m and 400m races at the 2004 Paralympic Games in Athens wore a Cheetah. The carbon technology is sometimes customized for the user. The thickness or stiffness of the foot is dependent on the user’s body weight, residual limb length, and alignment of the foot in relation to their running style. This can help optimize the performance of each individual, as well as improving the durability of the foot. 

When asked what it has been like to get used to wearing the Cheetah, Hegreness told OTW,

Well, like any prosthetic leg you need to ‘break it in.’ It has been a fun and sometimes frustrating process as you have to go slow at first and just get used to how it fits and feels. But every day it begins to feels a little more natural. It’s fun to try to go back and run on my everyday leg just to see that there is such a huge difference!

Hegreness also commented to OTW, "I am so thankful to have had this experience! It has been a fun journey and finally having the Cheetah and being able to run ‘normal and natural’ again is wonderful and so much easier than before! It’s amazing how having the right foot can make such a huge difference. And it proves that amputees can do pretty much anything they want, sometimes they just have to adapt how they do it!"