His Left Foot: David Whelan Turns Tragedy Into Triumph

When Thanksgiving rolls around each year, David Whelan is full of gratitude. Just days after finishing the annual feast in 2020, the below-knee amputee did something he’d never attempted: he strapped on a new prosthetic leg and went for a run.

In the ensuing years, the paratriathlete and endurance event champion has never failed to give thanks for his life, for his wife’s love and support, and for finding the strength to endure unimaginable physical and mental hardships. With his recent move from Cincinnati, Ohio, to St. George, Utah, he hopes to share that message with the community and to advocate for adaptive inclusivity in the world of endurance sports.

Growing up in Southern California, David was always physically active. Throughout his twenties, aiming for a career as a paramedic firefighter, he maintained a high level of fitness. But in 2012, tragedy struck. On a job site, a piece of equipment fell, crushing his left foot. Multiple surgeries followed; none were successful in repairing the broken bones. Far worse, nothing alleviated the excruciating, searing nerve pain marching inexorably up his leg.

In time, he was diagnosed with complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS), a chronic pain condition usually caused by an injury to an arm or leg. CRPS symptoms include severe, continuous burning or throbbing pain, as well as acute sensitivity of the skin to touch or cold. With each new procedure and its subsequent failure to lessen his misery, David spiraled more deeply into depression. He self-medicated with dark music, movies, and online content; pain meds, alcohol, and food became coping mechanisms as well. His normal weight of 155 pounds ballooned to 232. When he was told in 2018 that having his foot amputated would all but free him from his private hell, he eagerly opted for the surgery.

“The doctor had given me a 99 percent chance of being completely pain-free,” David recalls ruefully. “I’d go to Vegas with those odds. Unfortunately, things didn’t go as planned.”

CRPS returned, rapidly creeping up his leg and invading his hand, biceps, stomach, and chest. The pain prevented him from wearing a prosthetic; his medical team offered little hope for any improvement. Faced with a future of unrelenting agony, he attempted suicide twice. But his awakening after the second episode sparked an epiphany.

“The first thing I thought was ‘thank you,’” David says. “Then I started taking inventory of my life. I realized I couldn’t control my pain, but I could control my relationship with it. And that was the catalyst that started me on my journey.”

That journey would see David, equipped with a hands-free crutch called an iWALK, returning to the gym and registering for various athletic events. He also focused on the nutrition needed to support his new physical regimen. Eighty pounds lighter and using his pain as fuel, he triumphed in numerous adaptive competitions, including a regional CrossFit contest and the World Spartan Para Race. He also completed his first open-water swim.

His participation in the Spartan event proved seismic: A fellow para athlete who’d lost a leg while serving in Afghanistan had also endured crippling CRPS. But after treatment by Oklahoma-based orthopedic surgeon Dr. William Ertl, who primarily cared for injured veterans, David’s new friend was blessedly pain-free.

“I flew out there and begged Dr. Ertl to see me,” David recalls. “After he examined me, he said I had the worst case of CRPS he’d ever seen. He told me he’d have to basically ‘rebuild’ me, as if I’d stepped on an IED. I made the decision to move forward as quickly as possible.”

In March 2020, Dr. Ertl performed a seven-hour procedure to create a sturdy structure that would stabilize David’s residual limb and remap the nerves in his leg. The surgery proved successful. But David’s planned postoperative convalescence was cut short: On March 20, the hospital went into lockdown, and the new COVID ward near his room was filling rapidly.

David flew home alone; several months of bed rest followed. He and Heather, his then girlfriend, handled all wound care and pain management on their own. Due to the pandemic, no physical therapy was available to hasten his recovery. But miraculously, by summertime, David realized his pain was subsiding. “I was able to touch my leg for the first time without wanting to scream,” he notes. “I got fitted for a prosthetic and taught myself how to walk again. Then on November 28, I ran for the first time.”

That nearly four-mile jog marked a pivotal point in his recovery and his life. After eight and a half years, David was finally able to walk and run normally without a massive amount of pain.

In the years since that first run, David’s athletic achievements have been numerous. He’s been the IRONMAN 70.3 European Champion in the PC (physically challenged) division and competed in such grueling international triathlons as the Norseman Xtreme Tri in Norway and Patagonman in Chile. In 2025 alone, he completed six IRONMAN 70.3 events, bringing his lifetime total to eleven, as well as a full-length IRONMAN competition. Prior credits include racing with Team USA’s para tri team, earning him a top-three ranking in the country before he shifted to long-course triathlon. He was also USA Triathlon’s 2024 national champion.

David’s move with Heather to St. George was prompted by a wish to leave the snow behind for more accommodating climes in which to train and remain race-ready year-round. But the Whelans’ Southwestern relocation was also born of a desire to advocate for those with disabilities. They’re establishing VLCN MVMT, a nonprofit that eventually will offer adaptive sports of all sorts, from running and cycling to white-water rafting, rock climbing, and more. Additionally, David is working with state and federal legislators ABOUT THE AUTHOR to create the insurance reform needed to provide amputees with access to a wider range of prosthetic devices.

“Currently, if you’re an amputee, anything aside from a walking prosthetic is considered a luxury. So far, thirteen states have changed their laws to cover the devices needed to run, cycle, and do other sports. My goal is for Utah to come on board with that,” David says.

Add in his training for a Patagonman return in December, next year’s Zion 100 endurance run, the first-ever White Continent Triathlon in Antarctica, and his usual complement of IRONMAN events, and David’s life is full and joyous. Memories of darker times, he says, have become helpful tools.

“I read Viktor Frankl’s beautiful book, Man’s Search for Meaning, about his time in a concentration camp during World War II. He wrote about ‘becoming worthy of his suffering,’ which he did by being positive and helping people get to the next day. I want to become worthy of what I went through by helping other people find opportunities to grow.

“You name it, I want to do it,” he finishes, laughing again. “The idea is to bite off more than you can chew . . . and then chew like hell. I’m packing a lot into my life. But I feel like the universe is done messing with me for a while.”

More information about David Whelan is available at davidwhelan.com; follow him on Instagram at instagram.com/dave_ unbreakable.