Meet the baseball player with the backward leg

Dugan Smith was any average 10 year old boy, going to school, playing baseball and pickup basketball games in the driveway, with big dreams of being a major league pitcher when he grew up.
On a class field trip to the local DQ, Dugan was being pushed in a wheelchair (impaired with a foot cast from a previous sports injury) by a classmate who, as most 10 year old kids would, test the speed of the wheelchair. An uneven sidewalk halted the wheelchair and sent Smith flying into an even bigger injury: a broken leg.
As unfortunate as Dugan's injuries piling up seemed to be, the battle back to being a healthy 10 year old had only begun. When doctors began X-Rays and MRI's to fix the damage to his leg, they discovered a malignant tumor the size of a softball near his femur. As only a fourth grader, diagnosed with bone cancer (osteosarcoma) Dugan's parents had many questions on treatments, recovery etc. Dugan had only one question: If my leg has to be amputated from above the knee, how will I be able to keep playing baseball?
Because of the proximity and severeness of the tumor, doctors at the Ohio State University Medical Center (Smith a big Buckeye fan) and parents opted for a rare, radical procedure to save Dugan's opportunity to continue playing sports. Van Nes roationplasty was established in the 1950s, but only few are performed each year in the U.S.
Rotationplasty procedures are a type of autograft, where a portion of a limb is removed, while remaining portion of limb is rotated and reattached. In Dugan's case, the upper portion of the leg doused with cancer was removed, and the lower portion was rotated and reattached. This means, the ankle joint, becomes the knee joint. This allows the patient, after rigorous therapy and rehabilitation, to have a fully functioning knee- making running and jumping possible.

 Just 2 hours after the grueling 21-hour surgery, Dugan could move his toes. With follow up surgeries, chemotherapy, and radiation treatments, he missed nearly all of his 5th grade year at school. Now, 13 years old Dugan is back in school, 2-years and counting cancer-free, and rotating between time on the mound and 1st base for his junior high baseball team.

An unbelievable story, but not fiction. I grew up knowing Dugan (his father was my 8th grade history teacher). His story is nothing less than inspiring. He has come so far and leaves me with a quote to live by "Never give up, because 90% of it is in your mind."

Dugan will be featured TONIGHT on ESPN at 8pm on  the program E60.  Be sure to check it out!
 If I can find a clip/link later I will be sure to share!