Why Amputee Walking School exists.

A personal story that became a practical mission.

Todd Schaffhauser didn’t set out to start a walking school.

At 15, he became an above-the-knee amputee after cancer. Like a lot of people in that situation, he was faced with a simple but difficult question: what now?

Instead of backing away from an active life, Todd pushed toward it. He got into athletics, trained hard, and eventually qualified for the Paralympics. In 1988, he won a gold medal in the 100-meter event. A few years later, he broke his own world record.

But the medals weren’t the part that changed everything.

After those races, people started asking a different question:

“How are you running like that?”

They weren’t just curious. They wanted to learn.

Todd realized something important: there were a lot of amputees who didn’t need motivation. They needed practical instruction.

How do you move step-over-step?
How do you trust your body again?
How do you build strength, balance, and confidence in a way that actually works in real life?

That’s where it started.

What began as helping a few people learn how to run turned into something bigger. Over time, that experience evolved into what is now the Amputee Walking School—a place focused on walking, movement, and rebuilding independence from the ground up.

Today, Todd’s work is about more than technique.

It’s about helping people move from uncertainty to action.

Through hands-on coaching, structured programs, and a strong sense of community, he helps amputees—and the people who support them—take real, practical steps forward.

Not someday.

Now.