Colorado amputee father participates in his kids' athletics with affordable prosthetic blade
Saturday was the first time Nickolas Bacon, from Akron, has ever been able to play football with his teenage son RyLee.
He is the father of six kids who are all into sports and Nickolas gives them as much guidance as he can.
"I'm all for teaching them. I can tell them," he said.
But up until this point he couldn't play with them, because 15 years ago he lost his leg. He thought his days of intense recreation were over.
"The idea of being this active wasn't in my cards, as far as I thought," he said.
Nickolas has a prosthetic for walking but that can only take him so far. It isn't built for running or jumping, and he never even considered an athletic prosthesis because they are so expensive.
"I never had a prosthetist that even put it as an option as it's classified as a recreational or a choice type of thing," Nickolas said.
A "blade" like this would usually cost him close to $20,000, but Saturday he got fitted with a prosthesis from Levitate which costs only $2,000.
The company was founded by Lasse Madsen who lost his leg at the age of 14. He thought his days as a gymnast were over, until he was given an athletic prosthesis.
His first athletic prosthesis was very expensive, and he realized not everyone could afford one, So, as an adult he decided he wanted to make activity more accessible to anyone amputee who wants it.
He says his customers' lives are changed when they get a Levitate prosthetic.
"It's phenomenal. I can't describe it," said Lasse.
Customers like Nickolas, who finally gets to teach his son how to play football by example.
"To be able to show him... It's an experience that I won't forget for sure," Nickolas said.
"I can really see that it made them happy," RyLee said.
