It took 11 hours for Charles Currie to reach a United States trauma center. He lost a lot of blood as he lay on the desert floor in Baja, Mexico waiting for help to arrive. Before the day was over, he would also lose his arm -- and almost his life. A leisure motorcycle ride with friends along the course used for the Baja 1000 ended when a hit and run driver crashed into Charles and left him for dead.

Luckily, Charles has always been a competitor with the spirit to meet any challenge. And, since that day in 1991, he has fought back and recovered. He spent more than six months enduring intensive physical therapy so that he would be able to successfully utilize an ultra-sophisticated myoelectric arm prosthesis.

Because of the injuries to the muscles and tissue of his arm above the amputation, it was decided early in the rehabilitation process that a myoelectric prosthesis was the device that would be most ideal.

"Given the shortness of Charles’ amputated arm and the extensive trauma to the remaining arm musculature, we at Sunny Hills felt it would be in Charles’ best interest to travel to Salt Lake City to be evaluated by the developer of the UTAH Arm," Bob explains.

The UTAH Arm is the most sensitive system available. It is able to harness very minute signals that travel through the working muscles in Charles’ upper arm, his biceps and triceps muscles, allowing him to control his hand and elbow.

"After I knew I’d live, my first concern was how I looked and how would I support my family. He worked in his family’s specialty automotive business, Currie Enterprises, and his responsibilities included welding and driving trucks. He can handle both tasks with his prosthesis -- but today his responsibilities include more business management. "I still get out into the garage as often as I can," he says with a laugh.

He also says that he is still sometimes amazed at his arm’s functioning ability. Activities that require the ability to "grasp" are sometime difficult for people wearing a prosthesis. Charles says this isn’t much of a problem. "I can hold a hair dryer, clip my finger nails, use a can opener and carry my own luggage. And, because the arm has elbow and hand movements and swings quite naturally, people hardly notice I wear a prosthesis."

When asked how the entire experience has changed him, Charles says he now lives life to the fullest and has learned to accept help from others. "The men who waited with me after the accident saved my life. I’m so grateful to them."

To prove something to himself, Charles entered the 25th running of the Baja 1000. He had to drive over the same ground where the accident happened. This day ended quite differently. He finished sixth!