“If it weren’t for my parents, who let me discover on my own what I could and couldn’t do, I don’t think I would be the independent person I am today.”
This statement is particularly significant coming from 61-year-old lakeside resident, Fern McIntyre, who couldn’t walk until the age of seven because of a birth defect in her right leg and foot. Born in Ontario, Canada, she’s been an amputee since the age of seven, a procedure that finally allowed her to walk like a “normal” person.
“When I was six years old, my right hip had to be rebuilt,” says McIntyre. “Afterwards, I remained in a body cast for six months. The doctors tried multiple surgeries to correct my foot and weren’t successful, so they suggested amputating my leg up to my knee. I couldn’t have been more pleased with that decision because, more than anything, I wanted to be a figure skater. After the procedure, I practically lived on the ice for ten years. Once I no longer had to deal with hospitals and doctors, I could finally live my life. All the doors opened up for me to do whatever I wanted.”
McIntyre chose a career as a medical lab technologist, which she worked at for 38 years, before retiring last year.
Being an amputee certainly didn’t stop her from moving to Mexico with her husband, Lorne, although the decision wasn’t an easy one. The couple first had to determine that she’d able to get prosthetic care living at lakeside.
Says McIntyre: “Six months before our move we were in Ajijic checking out the area. I hired a translator and driver to take me to Guadalajara to visit a prosthetist. He told me he could do almost everything I needed, including repairs and equipment. The only thing he couldn’t do was create a leg ‘skin.’ Since I’m quite active, I need to have it replaced every year, so I arrange to travel to Canada or the U.S. to get that done.”
It was that meeting that gave them the green light to make their move to lakeside, an area they wanted to call home. Just a few weeks after arriving from Florida last summer, they bought a home in Riberas del Pilar.
As an avid walker, McIntyre is able to navigate Ajijic’s cobblestoned streets, but with great care. “I’m not any different than any elderly person in this way. Like them, I’ve got to watch where I’m walking to avoid the cracks and holes.”
She adds: “I’m a stubborn person. I want to do everything on my own. It’s important to be active. Therefore I walk, swim and play golf. Lorne and I used to power walk every day. He’s always been a jogger, something I’ve never been able to do. I think I would have been a runner if I had been born with two normal legs.”
In the 1960s, when McIntyre had her initial prosthesis made, prosthetists created legs that were more functional than attractive. But McIntyre was determined to get a prosthesis that was not only comfortable and functional, but one that made her feel and look normal.
A few years ago, while living in Huntsville, Alabama, she discovered Adon Vazquez, a Mexican prosthetist. “Adon was able to build me an attractive-looking ‘skin’ that covers the foot and the leg, so it appears as one piece. He heats the skin to form it to the shape of the leg.” McIntyre adds her own touches by painting the toenails bright red.
“Since Adon’s family lives two hours from lakeside, he visits the area every few years, bringing along his prosthetics team from Huntsville. They spend a week helping the underprivileged locals in the outer villages who can’t afford orthotics.”
It was in Huntsville that McIntyre joined a women’s amputee support group, mostly to help other women in the same situation. “I ended getting more out of those meeting then they did,” she says. “Most of the women lost their legs due to car accidents or diabetes. Unlike me, they’d been born with normal legs. What amazed me was how inspiring and positive they all were. I even learned from them how to put on a boot, something I couldn’t maneuver on my own.”
Although she hasn’t met other amputees at lakeside, she recently found out though a friend about a local man who had just lost his leg. While he’s getting his prosthesis fitted at a Guadalajara clinic, the two are arranging to meet one another after his procedure.
Says McIntyre: “I’m looking forward to exchanging information and support with a local, fellow amputee.”
The one thing that has always haunted McIntyre is ending up in a wheelchair, which is why she’s determined to stay as functional and active as she can.
“I aspire to living a healthy, stress-free, joyful life, surrounding myself with happy people. So far, it seems to be working.”