His first steps weren’t cautious, they were taken with confidence.
His first exercises weren’t exhausting, they were exhilarating. So much so, that when the patient wanted to do more, the therapist agreed. At the end of the first day with his new prosthetic, Ken Green felt like a new man. A man with a mission and a driving passion to succeed in that mission. For the past two months, Green has slowly but surely started to put the pieces of his shattered life back together. On June 8, Green, his brother Billy his girlfriend, Jeannie Hodgin and his dog, Nip, were driving east across Mississippi toward Florida on Interstate 20 in Green’s recreation vehicle after he had finished playing the Champions Tour Triton Financial Classic in Austin, Texas, where he earned $8,480. Near Hickory, Miss., the RV’s right front tire blew, sending the vehicle down an embankment and into a tree. Billy, Jeannie and Nip were killed. Green, who remembers being in the back of the RV, suffered serious injuries, one of which eventually forced the amputation of his right leg below the knee. But so far, so good.
Just a day after taking those first steps, Green took his first swings with a golf club. He says that he’s hoping to be able to play — from the white tees — on Sept. 28, when Ridgewood hosts a charity event called “The Friends of Green.” Longtime PGA friends Mark Calcavecchia and Curtis Strange are playing in the event and the organizers, Michael Goodman, Gary Michael and Greg Begler, are expecting even more pros to turn out.