“Once I put the blade on, I fell in love. I always tell people, when I run, I feel like I have 2 feet again.” Hunter Woodhall’s prosthetics have been a game-changer for him.

After all, the technology impacts his daily life. And without which, he admits, he wouldn’t have been able to run or even walk. Yes, his daily activities would unfortunately come to a complete standstill. Keeping all of this in mind, apparently, the Paralympian had to make a crucial purchase recently.

As honest as one could be, Hunter Woodhall mentioned how ill-fitted prosthetics can give him sores and keep him away from the track for days. Perhaps we can say the same about a malfunctioning one. Yes, it can restrict him from running for days, dampening his progress. Remember the 2023 World Athletics Championships, where the same reason caused him to withdraw from the 400m T62 race?

However, this time, it’s none of this. Neither a poor fit nor a sudden malfunction, but a different reason has now caused Hunter Woodhall to step out and get ‘new legs.’

On February 24, Hunter Woodhall uploaded a vlog on his YouTube channel Tara and Hunter, titled “Making New Legs For Running. How It’s Made.” The video starts with the Paralympian declaring, “I’m here in Greenwood, Arkansas. And I’m getting new running blades today, so that’s pretty exciting.”

He then revealed the reason – his last ones were ‘busted.’

The camera then zooms into Hunter Woodhall’s former blades, as he goes on to describe its wrecked condition, “Yeah, so the whole back of the socket was cracking. And just the right amount of force in this whole plate, it just busts off. So that’s why I’m here with my prosthetist, so I don’t bust prematurely with this.” 

He then jokes while his prosthetist works in the lab, “He’s cooking up some legs.” He’s surely one humorous, positive guy!

Well, every product comes with a shelf life that’s subject to wear and tear. And so are prosthetics. And particularly, the ones made for sprint runners. Because they are different and stiffer than those required for long-distance running. Since that’s how the runners get the fast push-off needed for their categories.

Given all this, it looks like Hunter Woodhall perhaps didn’t want to compromise on the quality of his prosthetics. Thus, even though a new pair may have cost him approximately $20,000 (the average cost for most below-the-knee prosthetics start), he came to Van Der Watt in Greenwood, Arkansas to get them made. Now the question may arise: why this shop?

Well, that’s because he wholeheartedly trusted the prosthetist since 2014. Many do not know, but Hunter Woodhall shares a rather important equation with him.

Hunter Woodhall and the only prosthetist he trusts

Well, making a prosthetic is no plain sailing task. It takes nearly two weeks to complete the entire fitting, testing, making, etc. And there are a lot of technical specifications that go behind it. Given his admission, it’s clear Hunter Woodhall places his trust solely in Francois Van Der Watt. Woodhall has known him since 2014 because Francois was the official prosthetist for Team USA going into Worlds in 2015.

Since then, Hunter Woodhall has had great faith in him. In a 2020 interview, he’d said, “He’s [Francois] always been a really good friend of mine, so just to be able to have that access to someone who you trust working on one of the most integral parts of racing, that’s an extreme advantage.” 

Even today, in the vlog, he openly endorsed Francois’ skills. Hunter Woodhall said, “This is the magic of prosthetics right here. This is Van Der Watt in Greenwood, Arkansas. They also have an office in Barling. So if you need anything done in the prosthetic, orthotic world, you should hit them up. Best in the business. That’s why I’m here. Francois is the man. Yeah. I’ve been working with Francois since I was 15 years old.”

So yeah, since the prosthetics directly affect his track and field performance, he only trusts this particular shop. What do you think of this? Share your thoughts below!