Local veteran speaks on life as an amputee

BECKLEY, WV (WVNS) – Curtis Yearego was born with two arms, two legs, two hands, two feet, ten fingers, and ten toes.

An infection after a knee replacement surgery left him with osteomyelitis, a bone infection that had the potential to spread to the rest of his body, and possibly even kill him. Yearego, who is a medical professional himself, along with his doctor, decided that amputation was his best option.

On August 2, 2023, Yearego underwent an above-the-knee amputation of his left leg. At 57 years of age, he had to entirely relearn much of his daily life.

Originally from Beckley, West Virginia, Curtis Yearego joined the Army at the age of 18 before serving his country for the next six years, traveling around the country and world. After his time in the service, he became a Licensed Practical Nurse, doing 12-hour shifts on his feet, running around hospitals. Just like most of us… completing rote tasks without a second thought.

His amputation would change all that in ways that are hard to comprehend…ways that he is still working to comprehend.

“It’s still completely life altering and altering. You know, it’s just it affects everything. Like I said before, it just affects everything from going to the bathroom to if I have a doctor’s appointment after playing it out, what time do I get up? What time do I go to get dressed? Do I have to wear my leg, do or not wear my leg? Are they going to want to look at my leg? You know, it’s so it’s you got to plan everything out,” said Yearego.

Curtis is fortunate to have support from his wife, Trish, and identical twin sons, Joseph and Jakob, who help him with many of the things he needs. Things like making a cup of coffee, are a simple task for Trish that takes little thought and only a few minutes. For Curtis, it is a complex undertaking that takes planning, and far more time and effort.

“If I wanted a cup of coffee right now, I would have to get up on the walk or walked. Unless you’re getting much chair, go make me a cup of coffee. Bring a cup of coffee back to here to the table. Set it on their park. My chair. Get in my walk or walk back over here. Sit down,” shared Yearego.

And while one might think the most difficult part of adjusting to life as an amputee is physical, Curtis said it is “the mental aspect of it.”

“The mental aspect of I don’t have a leg. There’s a lot of things that I can’t do and I’ll never be able to do. For example, I may never, ever be able to dance with my granddaughters at their wedding. I may not ever be able to go hiking with my grandchildren. So the mental aspect of it and a feeling less than a man because I can’t work, I can’t provide for my wife, I can’t protect my wife if we get mugged and if I don’t have a weapon, it’s very hard for me to protect my wife with one leg. So the mental aspect of that I think has been the hardest the getting used to the I don’t have a leg. And it’s very, very daunting at times,” said Yearego.

Curtis Yearego shared that he’s been on a roller coaster of emotion and pain, both mental and physical. On top of the added time and effort that is now required from him to complete what would otherwise be simple tasks, he continues to be plagued by phantom limb pain – an area of medicine that is still being understood. This means he is unable to go back to his job and is more limited in his opportunities to earn an income to support his family.

But through adversity that would lead many to darkness and despair, Curtis has found meaning.

He continued to say, “this is going to sound to a lot of people outrageous, but I thank God for allowing this to happen because I can no longer run from God and what he wants me to do. I’ve known since I was 17 that I was to speak to people in some sort, whether that be teacher, Sunday school teacher, pastor, minister or whatever. I knew I was to do that. And now I can’t run. I can’t go out and I can’t chase a dollar anymore. So there has been a silver lining and it’s brought my relationship with him closer and I have a deeper understanding of why things happen to us so that has been a silver lining.”

Curtis now a minister and delivers the message of persistence and optimism to his congregation weekly.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WVNS.