Meet Adaptive Athlete: Edward Jones

 

Petty Officer Second Class (Ret.) Edward Jones grew up in Hueytown, Alabama, just outside of Birmingham. His childhood was filled with baseball, where he played catcher. Growing up in a small town, Edward saw the military as a way to get out and explore. He joined the Navy after graduating in 1986. 

 

During his service, he worked as law enforcement and was stationed in both Texas and Florida. In 2009, Edward switched to reserves and worked with the Department of Defense police for a few years before getting called back to active duty during Operation Iraqi Freedom, where he worked at the National Imagery and Mapping Agency in Missouri and Washington DC. During his service, he began experiencing knee pain, but always toughed it out. In 2013, doctors discovered his ACL was torn and he was going to need a knee replacement.

 

Within the span of seven years, Edward underwent five knee replacements that kept failing. Between the fourth and fifth, it was discovered that he was allergic to the bone cement, but at that point, there wasn’t much to do. One last unsuccessful attempt led him to a decision to get his leg amputated above the knee in March of 2021. With years of cycling through pain and surgeries, Edward was excited to finally start progressing in his journey. 

 

Although he is a new amputee, Edward walks around 15,000 steps a day. He feels he has a long way to go in his knowledge of using his prosthetic. During his time at ATF, his focus is to gain both knowledge and independence from his trainer who is also an above knee amputee. On the mindset side, he is looking forward to finding tools that can help him manage PTSD.