May is National Military Appreciation Month and Mobility Awareness Month. Xtremity’s Chairman of the Board of Directors, Bob Kerrey, was recently interviewed by Amplitude Magazine.
Early in our conversation, Bob Kerrey interrupts himself and asks: “Can I offer a political opinion?”
He’s been out of elected office for more than 20 years and off the presidential campaign trail for more than 30. Yet Kerrey, the former governor and US Senator from Nebraska, still has the fire for politics and policy. Case in point: He recently vented some heat in an editorial for Military.com, writing a passionate appeal to reduce the incidence of limb loss among his fellow veterans.
“Type 2 diabetes is the leading cause of amputations among America’s veterans, with more than 15,000 receiving lower limb amputations annually,” Kerrey wrote in that article. “As a veteran with limb loss (albeit not from diabetes), this issue is extremely personal. Before starting a career in politics, I served as a Navy SEAL in the Vietnam War and received a Medal of Honor for my service. Yet I’m troubled each time I see how many of my fellow veterans are suffering, especially given the highly treatable, even preventable, nature of diabetes and its complications.”
