Who are you?
I’m Caro Wehner, a 47-year-old above knee amputee from Germany. I’m a geologist with a passion for stones and fossils and I traveled the world during my studies to find out everything about them. I live with my two kids…I’m sorry – I mean dogs… (but they are like my kids, as loving and as annoying) in beautiful Altmühltal, between Nürnberg and München. I’m originally from Schwaben but I moved here because I love the great opportunities for recreation and nature that this area brings. As I simply love being outdoors with my dogs, do Nordic walking, agility and look for fossils – this is the right place to be.
What is your story?
Well, in the year of 2000 I had a serious accident, being tackled by the other team at a softball competition. The cruciate ligaments in the knee broke and a lot of surgeries followed. Already at the first surgery I caught an infection. And there were more infections and a lot of pain after the over 40 surgeries that followed. The surgeries didn’t solve the problem and my pain only got worse. Finally, the only way out I saw was amputation, and getting the anaesthesia I went to sleep with a smile on my face knowing that I was going to be amputated, free from the pain and able to re-start my life.
Two weeks after the amputation I started trying out prosthetics and three weeks after that I started walking. Having dogs really helped getting up on the prosthetics early and fast. After 6 months I was doing Agility with my dogs again and – believe it or not – since then I have become the Vice World Champion in Para-Agility twice! Nowadays I live a really active and happy life doing trekking, motorbiking, Stand-Up-Paddling…and really whatever that I want.
What does “Xtend Your life” mean to you?
It simply means freedom. To be able to do what I want, whenever I want it, means everything to me since I’m a free spirit. I could never image to live my life in any other way. My personal motto is actually “Carpe Momentum”, and to me that is really the same. Being out of my comfort zone, having no restrictions, breathe fresh air and be a bit crazy is really life at its best!
P.s. You can follow Caro on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/thirteenfeetoneteam/
