The one-legged Softball dream

Caro Wehner is organizing this fundraiser.

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My name is Carol Wehner. I am 43 years old, I live in Furth, Germany and since 2011 have been an amputee above the left knee. I wanna show, that everything is possible, if you really want. I have started this Go Fund Me page to raise enough money to purchase a special prosthetic leg that would allow me to resume my passion of playing softball. In 1994 some friends and I founded a softball team with the Herrenberg Wanderers. They are a German Baseball-Softball club and for seven years I followed my passion and played Shortstop and 3rd base. I even made it to the State All-Star Team twice which was very exciting and fulfilling.

I was playing 3rd base at a regular league game in 2001 when a player on the other team decided that instead of sliding into the base they would dive directly onto my knee and shattered my leg. Over 10 years I have had over 40 surgeries and finally in 2011 the doctors said there was nothing left to do but amputee my lower leg.

I went through rehab therapy and got a prosthesis for regular walking but it wasn't designed for sports and made running the bases and chasing balls too difficult to continue to play. In spite of the difficulties I refused to give up the game I love so much so two years ago I picked it up again. I joined a Mixed Slow-Pitch softball team where I play Pitcher and 1st base with my everyday protheses.

In 2017 I was able to join them on their Fast-Pitch team. I have no trouble pitching fast but I run very slow - sometimes I feel like turtles could pass me going uphill!

Because the prostheses are not designed for sports they become worn out and need to be replaced every year. My health care provider will only cover me for the cost once every 5 years and this year I had to take them to court to get them to pay for it. Not only do I enjoy playing softball, I also like to spread the word that people with disabilities can still pursue their dreams and have fun. I sometimes wear a shirt that says "ASK ME!" because most people in Germany are not comfortable talking about disabilities and won't start a conversation about my leg because they don't want to embarrass me. The prosthesis I need for sports costs 13.143,32 Euro and it would allow me to play the way I used to play, or at least close to it. I would love to play for as long as possible and act as an ambassador to help people with disabilities achieve their dreams as well. Thank you for taking the time to read my story. If you can donate or share my story with others who are driven by their passion it would be greatly appreciated.

Maybe someday we can meet on the field of play!

Sincerely, Carol Wehner

I never gave up. This is my Team. The Furth Pirates from Germany.

This is the Sport Protheses I would like to have. I had the chance to test this leg for the length of two weeks. It was a great feeling ... I was able to run :)