Left Legged Lady Driver

What's the scariest thing you've done? I drove a car with my left leg and it felt just as strange as it sounds. I'll never forget how easily my surgeon shrugged his shoulders and said "sure" when I asked him if I would still be able to drive after my amputation. What he failed to mention is that it would require completely rewiring my brain and possibly even my car.

Because the gas pedal is on the right side in the US, driving a standard factory car requires me to take off my entire prosthesis so it's not in the way and then my left foot across to the right pedal with the seat pulled allllll the way up. Otherwise, you can pay a few thousand dollars to flip the gas and brake pedals, but then you would still need to reach across for the brake. Cars can also be retrofitted to operate entirely with hand controls ( if you can wrap your brain around the kind of re-learning that would require in addition to the certification course required). So for the sake of ease and budget, I am working on learning to drive with the pedals as they are. It's been a heck of a journey getting here. I have always been an anxious driver, and now I have to worry that I will try to use a leg that no longer exists to emergency break. But I have missed my independence, and relying on everyone around me for a ride is not a long-term solution I'm comfortable with. So I gave myself a pep talk, turned up the music, and started looping around the parking lot enough for employees on their lunch break to think I was practicing for my learner's permit.

So here I am, feeling like I'm 16 again, trying not to bump into cars in the target parking lot, except now I have to hop out of the car and put on my right leg before I grab my iced vanilla latte and shopping cart. It's not convenient, but nothing about being an amputee is. And yes, it is legal to drive a car with your left foot (at least in the state of Florida).

At the end of the day, if there is something you want, you might just have to reach all the way across to the gas pedal and go for it even when it feels more foreign than a European outlet. Get yourself an adaptor and plug that Dyson hair dryer in, baby.