Adam Johnston has faced his share of
challenges, but never let them slow him down.
When Johnston was two and a half he was
run over by a lawnmower while playing in the yard at daycare. He was taken to
Shriner’s Hospital for Children by helicopter, where they had to remove the
lower part of his leg. Early on, he showed incredible strength, said his
mother, Sue Johnston. Three months after the accident, he got a prosthetic leg,
and was walking on it within 24 hours.
The care Adam received at Shriner’s Hospital
for Children was amazing, said Sue. They treated him with the upmost respect
from the beginning. There he was, scared to death and sitting on the floor, and
the doctor told everyone else to get down on the floor with him, bringing
everything down to his level, said Sue. “They told me to treat him like any
other kid,” she said. That advice turned out to be just what Adam needed. “We
have never told him you can’t do something, and he has never asked for any
special treatment,” she said.
Adam said he doesn’t remember a lot
about the accident or the early surgeries, though he does remember having
surgery the summer before his freshman year in high school. The end of his leg
basically needed to be remodeled, he said, since his skin had stopped growing
but the bone had not. He spent that very hot summer in a cast, and began high
school on crutches due to the tenderness in his leg. But, he said, he didn’t
make a big deal of it. This is an attitude he’s had all along, said Sue,
recalling that he chose to have the surgery in the summer so he would be able
to snowmobile in the winter.
“I had no idea what I wanted to do,”
said Adam of life after high school, until Maine Maritime Academy (MMA) in
Castine caught his attention. He and his father visited the campus for an open
house and tour, and he was hooked. “The ship was really what sold me,” he said.
His first year of college was a
difficult one, he said. There was a lot of strenuous physical activity at the
beginning, and his prosthetic leg caused a lot of blisters and chafing, making
walking difficult.
Sue said that in those early days, she
worried about him at school. “It was difficult for us,” she said. “It’s hard to
let him go. I want to keep him safe,” she added. Though there were some bumps
that first year, Adam came through them and thrived. “We are really proud of
him,” Sue said.
Adam acknowledged how important his
family support system was for him when he began school. “I don’t think I would
have made it through school without my parents,” he said.
In the end, he did more than just make
it. In his sophomore year, he had joined the school’s training program, working
with incoming freshman as a mentor. He continued with this program in his
junior year, and in his senior year he landed the Senior Mentor position, an
officer position. This meant working hand in hand with the regiment operations
officer, organizing and running the training operation. This position, he said,
helped him understand himself a little better. “It really felt good to pass on
what I learned,” he added.
During his time at MMA, Adam switched
from the type of prosthetic he’d always had to a different style. The newer
technology alleviated some of the issues the previous prosthetic caused. Though
he said the transition between styles was a little difficult, MMA made accommodations
when necessary, giving him rides up and down the hill when walking was too hard.
Most of the time, however,
accommodations weren’t really something he needed. “I didn’t really struggle. I
was the same as everyone else. It was just one more step. I had to put on my
prosthetic,” he said, adding that it really only added 30 seconds to his
routine.
After graduating, Adam took his final
trip with the school, spending two months travelling to Italy, Iceland and
Germany on the State of Maine. This week, he leaves for New York to do an
internship with the company, where he will once again spend two months at sea.
“When I look back at what I’ve done,
I’ve surprised myself sometimes. I didn’t think I’d be doing any of this. I’m
glad this is where I’ve ended up,” he said.
