Amputated above his left knee, the 31-year-old paratrooper gamely endured all the agony en route to getting fitted for an artificial limb -- the bleeding, the throbbing, the itching, the painful "shrink socks," the oppressive calisthenics.
From all reports, he worked hard and progressed rapidly while charming the Walter Reed medical staff with his positive frame of mind, insisting, for example, that he wouldn't have to worry anymore about what to wear to Halloween parties.
"I'll just stick a (toilet) plunger on the end of my leg and be 'a Pirate' on my crutches," Ferguson reassured his medical team.
In truth, the career soldier aspired to some higher ambitions as well. One was to complete his treatment and recovery in record time and return to Alaska with his wife, Danielle, and three young children as quickly as possible. The other was to remain in the Army for several years to come, despite his amputation.
Ferguson quickly achieved goal No. 1, concluding the nine-month regimen for AKs ("above-knee" amputees) in six short months. At his going-home party, the Walter Reed medical staff chipped in and presented him with his own pirate peg-leg for future celebrations.
But if he's ever to reach goal No. 2, and it won't be easy -- Ferguson recently suffered a series of frustrating setbacks -- he'll need a lot more help.
That's where the five new artificial legs in the closet of the Ferguson family residence at Fort Richardson might come in handy. Some of them are state-of-the-art prostheses.
HIGH-TECH HARDWARE
The roster:
• A "C-Leg," the high-tech limb manufactured by the Otto Bock firm in Germany -- with its battery-powered microprocessor in the shin that matches the flexibility of the knee to the wearer's natural gait, causing the lower leg to alternately swing free and stiffen.
• A "Rheo Knee," the equally high-tech leg produced by Ossur, an Icelandic firm, with an even more advanced microprocessor -- one capable of storing "artificial intelligence" -- which uses high-speed pattern recognition to immediately respond to sudden changes in speed, load and terrain.
• Three "mechanical" legs, more basic prostheses with simple hydraulic knee mechanisms for optimum stability. Ferguson's are each equipped with a different style of ankle: one for walking or running, one for snowshoeing or hiking in rough terrain, one that's suitable for swimming.
Each leg has its pluses and minuses, Ferguson says:
"One benefit of a microprocessor knee is it senses when you take a full step. So especially in winter, if I was walking with my mechanical (leg) and I started to slip and my knee hadn't reached full extension ... I would go down. On my C-Leg, it would give me resistance. It's actually stopped me from falling a half dozen times."
But his mechanical swim leg worked well when he took his kids to a water park in Minneapolis on the trip home. And the mechanical legs, in general, are far more durable.
"The problem with any computerized leg right now is they're all a medium-duty knee," says Ferguson, who before his injury enjoyed skiing, hiking and hunting. "So you can't get them wet. You can't run on them.
"If I was up walking and the kids were in the street about to be hit by a car, I could run out there and grab them -- but I would probably break the (microprocessor) knee. By no means is it designed for heavy-duty use."
That such technology is advancing so rapidly right now, amputee support groups say, is partly attributable to the five-year-long war in Iraq -- which so far has wounded more than 29,000 U.S. troops. More than 600 of the American wounded have required amputation.
In Ferguson's case, he never saw it coming.
THAT DAY IN BAGHDAD
As a member of a scouting party for the 4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne ) last April, he was riding in a Humvee south of Baghdad when his vehicle was struck by what the Pentagon calls an "explosively formed projectile" -- a molten metal jet stream released from a homemade roadside bomb. The blast sliced through the armored vehicle and wounded all five soldiers inside -- Ferguson worst of all. His left knee was shattered. After initial treatment in Iraq and Germany, he was transferred to Walter Reed, where his leg was amputated.
"He was an excellent patient," recalls Dan Carroll, a prosthetist at Walter Reed who treated Ferguson during his recovery. "He was up and walking very quickly. He's very tough."
Maybe too tough.
Ferguson now wonders whether he checked out of Walter Reed too soon. At the time, he and his wife and three children (including a newborn) were feeling sequestered inside their small hotel room in Washington, D.C., during the final days of his physical therapy. He also wanted to greet his fellow paratroopers in Anchorage when they finally returned home from Iraq.
Following his return to Fort Richardson in October, Ferguson's amputated limb continued to contract. Soon it no longer fit snugly inside the custom-molded thigh socket that attaches to his prosthetic knee. He layered on additional liner socks, but then the seal was no longer tight. He visited a local prosthetist, who measured him for a new socket, but it wasn't a very good fit. He got measured a second time, and it was still loose. Eventually he was forced to return to his wheelchair and crutches. The setback was depressing.
"Now I'm swollen because I haven't worn it (for months)," Ferguson said recently. "It's frustrating. ... It's almost a year after I got my leg blown off and I'm back in a wheelchair or on crutches. ... I can't pick up my baby. ... I can't take out the garbage. ... It's very frustrating."
BEGINNING AGAIN
So he's decided to return to Walter Reed. Later this month, Ferguson and his family will load their Suburban and drive to his childhood home in Minneapolis, where the two older children will stay with their grandmother. Then he and Danielle and their 1-year-old daughter will continue on to Washington D.C., where he'll check back in to Walter Reed in late April.
After doctors examine the condition of his residual limb -- which might now require new surgery -- he'll eventually be fitted for a new socket and possibly a new leg. Prosthetic technologies have continued to evolve.
Ferguson hasn't had a chance to use his Rheo Knee yet. He had to send it back to Walter Reed for adjustments. But it's no longer Ossur's newest leg on the block.
That honor now goes to the "Power Knee," a microprocessor-guided prosthesis that couples the "artificial intelligence" features of the Rheo with a motor that behaves like a muscle. The Ossur Web site shows the Power Knee allowing above-knee amputees to walk straight up a flight of stairs, one foot after the other.
He wouldn't mind trying that, Ferguson said. He knows a fellow soldier with a Power Knee who found that it allows him to trudge through deep sand without falling. He wonders if he would do as well in a snowy Alaska winter.
"I've fallen in the snow with all my legs that I've worn, just because it's so deep and you can't really get out of there," Ferguson said.
"Whereas, with the Power Knee, hopefully -- if everything works right -- I would be able to walk through one or two feet of snow, and it would give you the ability to just push on through."
AT WALTER REED
If he eventually gets a prosthetic upgrade, Ferguson can thank the military for fully covering the cost. His C-Leg alone retails for $100,000-plus -- a sum that few civilian amputees would ever find affordable. Of course, it was his military service that cost him his leg to begin with. Still, he's grateful for what he considers the excellent care at Walter Reed -- and the companies that keep improving prosthetics.
"At Walter Reed, you've got a huge market of young amputees who want to stay active," he said. "So on one hand, we're helping them figure stuff out, but we're also getting the latest technology.
"The people from the companies are coming down and talking to you while you're doing physical therapy ... 'What can we fix on this? What do you like? What don't you like? What would you like to see in the future?' "
What Ferguson would like is to fulfill his goal of remaining in the Army another eight years in order to reach the 20-year service mark, when retirement benefits become available.
SAVING A PLACE
Until the war in Iraq, the Army frowned on allowing amputees to return to active duty. But that's since changed.
According to a Pentagon spokesman quoted by the Associated Press, about 30 soldier-amputees who lost limbs in Iraq or Afghanistan have since returned to active duty, some to combat situations -- and none of the amputees who've asked to remain in the service have yet been discharged.
That sounds good to him, Ferguson said.
"I want to see if I can do my last eight years in Alaska and stay here," he said. "I'm trying to be an optimist."
Find George Bryson online at adn.com/contact/gbryson or call 257-4318.
BLOG: Sgt. Joshua Ferguson has decided to call his blog "Stumpy's Blog" and will update readers and friends about his rehabilitation at Walter Reed.
Important warning about e-mails purporting to be from the adn.com staff.