From KSDK News, January 17, 2005

(KSDK) - Ted Brobst has flown jets for more than 20 years. When an accident threatened to destroy his life-long passion, Ted decided to fight back.

"Jane and I were on our motorcycle riding along, clear and beautiful day. We had just visited her mother and a car coming the opposite way decided to turn in front of us," says Ted.

June 4th, 2003 is a day never far from Ted Brobst''s mind, "I was looking right in her eyes, I knew she was going to do it, and I knew there was probably not a lot I could do about it."

In matter of seconds, his left leg was pinched between the truck and cycle. Ted and his wife tumbled off the front of the vehicle. "We started talking to one another and said, ''Hey you alright? Yeah, I''m okay.'' Well okay, no problem, our brains aren''t scrambled and we''re not paralyzed. A couple of broken bones, and six to eight weeks we''re back on a flight," says Ted.

The reality was much worse. The accident dislocated Ted''s hip, crushed his pelvis-and mangled his foot. "The last thing I said to the paramedic, I told him, I said hey I''m a pilot and you tell the surgeon he''s got to save my leg," says Ted.

It was a request that could not be kept, but it wouldn''t keep Ted down. "What you do is you pick yourself up, dust yourself off and say, ''well, what do I have to do from here?" says Ted.

Despite the amputation of his lower leg, Ted was determined to not only walk, but also fly. "Our hopes are that I''ll be able to go back to work and that we''ll be able to travel and do the things that we did beforehand, it won''t be easy, but we''ll figure out a way to do it," says Ted.

His search for answers led him to Tulane University Medical Center in New Orleans, and hip surgeon, Dr. Robert Barrack. But there was a hitch; Dr. Barrack was taking at position at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine.

"He was offered a position up here in St. Louis and he said, you know, I''m moving, and before I can do your operation I will no longer be doing surgeries at Tulane," says Ted.

The decision was easy. "We knew he was the right guy for the job, we had just traveled to Columbus to have the amputation done, obviously I''m going to St. Louis to have him do the operation," says Ted.

Ted needed a total hip replacement. Dr. Barrack faced two challenges. First, he needed to restore the hip socket destroyed in the accident. "You remove the femural head, but then you machine it to the perfect shape to fit the area where the bone in the ascetabulum was missing," says Dr. Barrack. "Then you have to ream into the socket and the bone graft to create a perfect hemisphere."

The newly fashioned socket is secured with screws. Since Ted is in his early 40''s, Dr. Barrack''s second challenge was to give him a hip joint that would last 20 or 30 years.

Thanks to advancements in bearing surfaces, another problem solved. Dr. Barrack used a highly cross-linked plastic and a very wear-resistant head.

Dr. Barrack says the surgery was a success and everything went as planned. "His recovery may be a little longer," says Dr. Barrack. "But even given that, as highly motivated as he is, that he has a very good chance of going back to, doing what he wants to do most, which is flying jets."

And that''s exactly what a man with a passion for being a pilot wants to hear. "We''ve left no stone unturned to increase the odds for us to do be able to do that, I feel good that we did everything we could," says Ted.

Ted''s wife Jane was also seriously injured in the accident. Both Jane and Ted continue to attend physical therapy. They recently were back at Barnes-Jewish Hospital for a checkup. Dr. Barrack expects Ted to be walking on his own in a few months.

Right now, there are a number of pilots flying jets with above the knee, and below knee amputations. Ted predicts pilot certification to be a long process. We''ll keep you posted.