Ryan Fann lost his left foot when he was a toddler, but it has never slowed him down.
“Believe it or not, I never outgrew a prosthesis — I broke it,” Fann says. “I was very challenging as far as them trying to keep up with me.”
Fortunately, Fann was provided with more durable prosthetics by the Shriners Hospital for Children in Lexington, Ky. That led to a standout athletic career and a desire to help others.
Today, Fan is himself a certified prosthetist. He is the director of prosthetics at The Mobility Institute in Savannah.
“I lost my left foot at 3, right before I turned 4,” Fann says. “I was run over by a truck in front of my house, and it crushed all the bones in my foot.
“My mother had the choice of trying to save it or amputate it. She chose amputation.
“I’m really happy she did that,” he says. “If they’d tried to save the foot, my ankle would have been fixed at 90 degrees, so there would have been no movement.
“Trying to run on it would have been difficult, causing bone fractures. My left foot wouldn’t have grown normally, so it would have been deformed and less functional.”
That would never have worked for Fann. “I wanted to play football and do everything else,” he says. “I started playing football at 5.”
In high school, Fann was named his football team’s most valuable player, but he assumed his athletic career was coming to an end. In 2002, he was chosen to play in the Tennessee East-West Shrine Bowl Game.
ESPN broadcast the game, and Fann’s athletic abilities caught the attention of Bryan Hoddle, coach of the U.S. Paralympic team. Hoddle contacted Fann and convinced him to train for the 2004 Paralympics, held in Greece.
“I was interested because I was competitive,” Fann says. “I wanted to find something else to do. I hooked up with a prosthetics company and started training with the track team at Tennessee State.”
Fann not only won gold and bronze medals, he broke a world record in the 4 x 400 meter relay. He won several other gold and bronze medals before retiring from the Paralympics in 2008.
In March, Fann moved to Savannah from Nashville. He trained runners for the Paralympics in London and currently is training runners for the upcoming 2012 Rock ‘n Roll Savannah Marathon.
“Now I run 5K and half marathons,” Fann says. “I enjoy doing this. It’s motivation to stay in shape.”
The local Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon will be the second half marathon Fann has run this year. “I’ve got a few people back in Nashville, and two of them are going to fly down and run the Rock ‘n’ Roll,” he says.
“One is missing a leg below the knee. I’ve worked with them with their prosthetic legs and guided their training regimen.”
Fann is a co-founder of Amputee Blade Runners, a nonprofit organization that helps provide free running prosthetics for amputees. “We’re able to provide anywhere from 10 to 15 prosthetic legs year,” he says.
Fann is an advocate not just for fellow amputees, but also all other runners. Alexis Mundy, who does marketing and physician relations at Savannah Vascular and Cardiac Institute, is seeking Fann’s advice before competing in the marathon.
“He has completed many of these, which is why I’ve asked him to help me train for the Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon myself this year,” she says. “I’m a novice runner.”
Having a prosthesis is no hindrance for Fann.
“Unless for some reason my limb is swollen that day, I consider myself on even playing ground,” he says. “If anybody is running in a half marathon, look around for guys with no legs, because they might be beating you.”
MARATHON CENTRAL
Go to savannahnow.com/marathon for all our preview coverage and a look back at last year's inaugural Rock 'n' Roll Savannah Marathon & 1/2 Marathon.