Back during the winter, we brought you the sad news that sports car personality and raconteur extraordinaire Toly Arutunoff had been terribly injured when he was helping the driver of a disabled car while en route to an SCCA convention in a blizzard. The crash forced partial amputation of his leg. We checked in with Toly this week through his longtime pal and Hemmings photo contributor, Hal Crocker, and we’re happy to share the news that Toly’s making progress. He tells us:
I’m currently hobbling around on a nice electronic prosthetic called an ‘E-Leg.’ My stump will change shape little by little for most of a year, thus the hobbling! They’ll mold another two or three sockets before everything is finally stabilized. I actually walked today at the prosthesis company without assistance: Fifteen-foot walks and turnarounds between support rails but without touching them; but it’ll be awhile before I’m strong enough and coordinated enough to trust myself ‘just walking.’
I have a physical therapist who really works me out. You know, they say for every day in the hospital, it takes three to get back the shape you were in. I did manage to lose about 20 pounds by being unconscious for so many days – not counting the missing leg! I’ll probably always have a cane for reassurance. And the phantom pain is really weird. Eventually, ’tis said, I’ll be able to drive a three-pedal car, moving the prosthesis foot on the accelerator by moving my right hip forward and back. There’s even a motorcycle cop in Oklahoma City who has an amputation like mine, so I do hope to get out on the bikes again.
Great news. Toly’s one of us, and we wish him the best. Look for a forthcoming story on his life and career behind the wheel in Hemmings Sports & Exotic Car.