Photo 1- Special Olympics tennis player Dionte Foster puts weight on his new prosthetic leg at as he gets coaching from Jeff Bourns, a champion tennis player who is also an amputee, at Bass Rudd Tennis Center at UofL.
843/2018
By: Erasmus Williams
Basseterre, St. Kitts, September 29, 2018 – Dionte Foster, a Special Olympian from St. Kitts and Nevis was expected to return home from Louisville, Kentucky after receiving a free prosthetic leg.
Thanks to Wayne Luckett’s generous donation three-time gold medal-winning tennis player According to media reports, Dionte Foster will be back on the court for the first time since he lost his leg.
In 2015, Foster and his family were devastated when he was diagnosed with bone cancer, just six months after losing a close aunt to pancreatic cancer.
Luckett is a prosthetist with Louisville Prosthetics and said Foster has made a rapid amount of progress day by day.
For Foster, trying out his new leg for the first time on the court was a struggle, but his optimism and confidence did not let that stop him.
Foster said this journey has taught him to give life the respect it deserves.
“Put the guns down, put the knives down, stop the violence and live your life the way it’s supposed to be lived,” said Foster.
“It was like my world had just collapsed,” e said after losing his leg.
Foster was competing in tennis at Special Olympics World Summer Games 2015 in Los Angeles when he sought medical attention for a sore, swollen knee.
World Games physicians and doctors in his home country diagnosed Foster with stage 4 osteosarcoma bone cancer.
Foster took to the court this week, serving and volleying with Jeff Bourns, a ranked tennis player who also has an amputated leg. He also got a special session with U of L tennis coach Rex Ecarma.
Through it all Foster said that he tried to stay positive and wished that anyone going through tough times could stay strong for themselves and those around them.
As he spoke to a group of reporters, he smiled and commented to his competitors, “If they are watching, I’m coming home for you [to] kick some butt!”
Foster also received other tests and trainings from experts at University of Louisville, in hopes of returning to the court competitively.
He was expected to return to St. Kitts and Nevis on Saturday.
