WFSB Channel 3Local amputee receives bionic leg

Local amputee receives bionic leg

Amy Shopey is one of the first 25 civilians in the nation to receive a new bionic prosthetic leg, developed in collaboration with the U.S. Military, called the Genium Bionic Prosthetic System.

On Tuesday, Shopey showed off her new bionic leg at Hanger Prosthetics & Orthotics in Torrington.

Shopey was working for the Department of Transportation when she fell into the back of a sander vehicle and her leg got caught in an auger belt. She was alone, but managed to reach her phone to call 911. The accident resulted in the amputation of her left leg below the knee.

Then while in the hospital, she contracted a flesh eating bacteria, which sent her to the intensive care unit for 12 days where she spent time in a Hyperbaric chamber. She wasn't expected to survive. A second amputation was required to remove additional portions of her leg above the knee and a long rehabilitative journey followed.

The new Genium bionic technology has sophisticated rule sets to create the first intuitive knee, allowing patients to immediately change speeds, walk up stairs, backwards, multi-directionally, over obstacles, in wet rugged environments - all with greater efficiency, according to Hanger Prosthetics & Orthotics.

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