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What can an Ertl amputee do? How about hike 20 miles a day fighting wildfires, leg press 1500 lbs, become the first amputee Firefighter in a states history or row across the Atlantic? In short with a good Doctor and the right surgical procedure, an amputee can do anything they want. How would I know? Because Dr. Jan Ertl gave me my life back. I am William Malmskog, I grew around the world up like most Navy brats, never in one place more then a couple of years. Aside from a well educated father who would read to me all the time there was nothing extraordinary about my childhood. I was pretty much a typical short, underweight, hyperactive, underachieving, geek who after a near fatal motorcycle accident in my Junior year opted to drop out of school, take a GED and move out on my own. Just in case there was any doubt, CPR hurts like hell and waking up with a 200 lb Paramedic on your chest is not something you will forget. In high school I had started Volunteering with our local Fire Dept. in rural Texas. I'd found out that when the alert tones went off Volunteers could leave and at the time I would have rather had a root cannel then sit through those backward redneck classes. I got my EMT at 18 then a few years later became a Paramedic. In the mid 80's when we were first becoming aware of HIV I choose to go into another field. Public Safety being all I knew I went into Law Enforcement. I would probably still be a Deputy Sheriff if it had not been for a divorce in 1990. Funny how it is the tragic events in our lives that spur us to change and to grow.
After 12 years working in public safety and being pretty much burned out I wanted to do something totally different so I went to college for a Computer Science degree. (note: if you get a computer science degree you will become Tech Support Central for all of your family and friends. So think about it before you do it.) While in college I got back into powerlifting and in Karate. During that time I met up with a group that did live Wild West shows in Ft Worth. Sounding somewhat more fun then a poke in the eye with a sharp stick I started doing shows with them. It was one of those less trod paths that change everything in your life. The Gun Fight group I was with was offered work on Walker Texas Ranger a week later I was offered a job on the feature film Space Marine. I made more in three days then I made in a month as a Deputy and which ranked real high on my list, they fed me. I had found the direction I wanted to go in my life. All the training I had ever had applied to stunt work, every day was different, it paid real well, they fed me and in short the job was a blast. But life once again had different plans for me. In Dec. 1996 while shooting "Once Upon a Time in China VI" with Jet Li I suffered an injury that after four years and multiple surgeries would result in the loss of my leg. I was very fortunate to find Dr. Ough of St. Paul Medical Center in Dallas. Who amputated my leg in April of 2000. I had not realized the amount of daily pain I had been in until after the surgery and my pain was almost nonexistent compared to what it had been. As a member of the Screen Actors Guild a month after the amputation I drove from Dallas to Los Angeles to take part in the SAG Commercial Strike. I was on the picket line as a Strike Capt. everyday on crutches until the strike concluded much later that year. When I returned to Dallas I found Walker was wrapping up so I moved back to California. My only choice at that point was where to move. I'd lived in Hollywood and the Valley both of them are human zoo's with the air quality of a coal fired steel mill. And being a native of Southern California I had spent alot of time in the mountains around Big Bear and Arrowhead so that is where I returned.
So my life was lining up pretty much the way I wanted it. I worked as a Personal Trainer which gave me the time to audition and do stunts whenever I was called in. I was serving my community and having fun as a PCF Firefighter, life was good... life just was not finished playing with me yet. By June of 2002 when I competed in IPC Powerlifting at the National Sports Festival for the Disabled. Which by the way coming to the event straight from fighting the Louisiana fire and going more then 20 hours without sleep I still took second in my weight division. But there was a problem I was noticing that whenever I pushed myself, like running or wildland Fire fighting I would find blood in my liner and it looked like a pencil was pushing through the bottom of my stump. So I sought out a top quality Dr. to look at the stump. By August/September I once again could hardly walk because of the fibula growing through the bottom of the stump. And in November of that year I went in for a one hour day surgery the day before Thanksgiving. Now just as a hint, if your having elective surgery never do it the day before a holiday and if the Doctor is running 5 hours behind before he gets to you, reschedule! To put it mildly there were complications. The Dr. decided to break the fibula free at the fibular head and remove the entire thing. While he was sliding it out it became hung up, it would not come easy so he just pulled. Unfortunately what it was hung up on was an artery and he turned my leg into a lawn sprinkler. So what was supposed to be a simple one hour revision to trim and seal off the bone became a fight to save my life that ended up in my stump being split from end to end and everything being taken out so he could find the artery he'd severed. The surgery was so botched up I ended up with nuropathy and a stump I could not use. The only think the Dr. did at that point was to send me to a pain clinic and of course the only thing they did was to dope me up so bad I was a drooling idiot. After several months of trying to find another Dr. to fix my stump with the best offer to be removing it through the knee I found Dr. Ertl. Dr. Ertl felt he could not only end the unreal pain I was in but he could save my knee as well and true to his word Dr. Ertl did both. Even without the fibula bridge my pain is gone and my activity level back up.
But how did Dr. Ertl save my life. That is something I had up to now only shared with a very few and now I'll share it with you. After 10 months of the screaming pain and sleep depravation of nuropathy while I fought with my insurance to get the Ertl procedure I had hit my wits end. I had been awake for four days straight in screaming pain and I spent the fifth night with my service auto in my lap. Only one thing held me to this life, when I was 17 my Mother died of cancer and I could not do the same to my children. About a month later with the help of a very good Attorney and the letters from many Actors and Congressmen my insurance relented and I received the Ertl procedure. Lesson here is to find what you can hold on to and never give up. Two month's after the surgery when the million acre fire storm hit California I returned to duty and assisted my Department as Public Information Officer throughout the fire. Although an injury I suffered during the fire later led to ostiomelits and yet another battle for my life. It is an epiphany when you wake up one day and realize every moment of your life has led you to be at a certain point with a certain set of skills and beliefs. I hit just such a point in July of 2005 when I was invited to be an oarsman with the first all disabled crew in history to attempt to cross the North Atlantic by oar. We are currently training in France, the race is in 2006 the web site is www.woodvale-events.com . Stay tuned for more information. To assist William in making this historic ocean crossing contact the Challenged Athletes Foundation at http://caf.temp.powweb.com |
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Once in the mountains I returned to Firefighting as a PCF. About that time I discovered talking with other amputees about fitness that I did not know fitness I knew powerlifting and if I was going to help other amputees I need to get training. 
