Greenwood resident Rodney Woods continues to walk strong despite hardships from Type 2 diabetes.
These include vision loss in his right eye and an amputated right leg. But he is moving along now with the help of a prosthetic leg.
Woods, 46, offered this advice for others facing hardships: “If you’re going through a situation like this, just keep your head up. Keep pushing, keep striving. It may seem dim right now, but there’s light at the end of the tunnel.”
Earlier this year, Woods recalled how he ended up breaking a toe on his right foot. He did not notice immediately, however, since his leg was numb because of his diabetes.
One day, Woods took off his shoe and saw a lot of blood on his right foot. When he went to the hospital, he was prescribed antibiotics to clear it up. However, the condition of his foot soon got worse because his right leg was infected.
On May 20 at a hospital in Jackson, Woods had his right leg amputated.
“I was miserable, but overall it was for the best,” Woods said, explaining that if his leg hadn’t been amputated, the infection could have spread throughout his body. Still, he was confined to a wheelchair for two months.
“It wasn’t the greatest thing in the world, because instead of being used to getting in a vehicle, I had to roll to the door and lift myself to get in the vehicle,” he said. “I mean, it was miserable doing that.”
Losing his leg isn’t the only difficulty Woods has faced. He must have dialysis treatment three times a week and is at risk of chronic kidney disease.
“I was basically fighting an uphill battle. Things weren’t going as well as it was,” he said.
Besides the loss of his leg, his blood pressure was getting high, and he was having trouble controlling his blood sugar.
“It was just a lot going on,” Woods recalled.
What kept him strong was his family.
“My wife, my mom, my aunt and my uncle — they just encouraged me every day to push myself and get stronger so I could walk again,” he said.
Two months after his amputation, Woods got his first step in being able to walk again when he got a prosthetic leg from Buckner Prosthetic & Orthotic in Jackson.
Rodney Woods has made use of his prosthetic leg ever since his right leg was amputated in May due to complications from Type 2 diabetes.
When Woods, a lifelong Mississippi State University fan, was asked what design he wanted for his leg implant, the answer was easy: “I asked them if I could get Mississippi State on it.”
So he did. The maroon Mississippi State Bulldogs logo plastered on his prosthetic matches Woods’ Mississippi State shorts, hat and shirt and his car’s front bumper license plate.
“Once I got my leg, it was like I couldn’t sit down,” Woods said.
Slowly but surely, he’s doing things he used to do, including fishing, hunting and going on walks, he added with a laugh. He said he also wants to get back to riding motorcycles once he figures out how to balance on one again.
Travis Clark, who has been friends with Woods for 20 years, said, “For all that he’s been through, he has got a terrific attitude.”
“He’s a good friend, and I appreciate him,” Clark said, adding with a laugh that if Woods “thinks that much about Mississippi State to have his leg maroon, then he must be a mighty fine man.”
Woods, a Holmes County native who moved to Greenwood when he was 18, said he had always been a fan of Mississippi State. He intended to go to the university after high school until a torn ligament derailed those plans.
He said he’s looking forward to Mississippi State’s football game Saturday against Southeastern Conference rival LSU.
Woods had worked a variety of jobs before losing vision in his right eye after a blood vessel burst, including a stint at National Picture and Frame Co. as well as various stints as a truck driver.
With his wife, he has two stepchildren, two children of his own and a grandson.
For other amputees, Woods offered encouragement.
“At first it’s going to be hard; I’m not going to lie. But keep a straight mind focused, and just push through it. It’s going to get better,” he said. “Just because a person loses their leg, whatever you want to do or have been doing, you can accomplish that again.”
• Contact Gerard Edic at 581-7239 or gedic@gwcommonwealth.com.
