CHS track star blazing a new trail with a helping hand

Talented Catholic High School in Baton Rouge track athlete James Robert III is now running full steam on the track as well as toward his dreams and goals in life with a prosthetic hand that was built for him by the LSU School of Engineering.

“It has made me more explosive, which is vital in track in general, but especially for short distance sprinters, which I am,” said Robert.

Robert was born with only the palm on his left hand, according to his mother, Deidre Robert. She and her husband, James Robert II, members of Immaculate Conception Church in Lakeland, were surprised and had many questions. But in talking with then-pastor Father Greg Daigle and relying on their faith, they knew God had his purposes and plans for James. 

“We always instilled in (James) that ‘God made you in his image and he made you perfectly,’ ” said Deidre, her voice quivering with emotion.

James demonstrated he was a gifted athlete early. In 2003, he won the first Diaper Derby put on by Parent’s Magazine. With a surgery in which doctors grafted a toe onto his hand, he was able to grasp small objects. He participated in a number of sports including football, basketball and soccer.

“If there was something I wanted to do, I found a way to do it,” said James. “If you are alive today, you have the chance to get better at something whether it’s athletics, reading, or whatever you want to do.”

When James suffered an injury a couple of years ago, he turned to track. But he found it difficult to keep up with the other athletes, because there is strength training and weight lifting involved. He had to work out with giant rubber hands but it was frustrating. 

“There were some really hard days. There were a lot of days I wanted to stop. But I couldn’t make myself stop,” said James.

The coaching staff at Catholic continued to work with James, and a breakthrough came two years ago when they learned about a unique program at LSU which requires students to make a working prototype product in order to graduate. 

After meeting with James, a pool of students of Dr. Warren Waggenspack’s developed, designed and produced a prosthetic hand that would allow James to grip the weightlifting bars in order to work out.

James was actively involved in the process and said he learned a lot.

“I had never used a prosthetic before and I didn’t even know there was a whole disabled community or a world of people who used prosthetics. I was never exposed to that. So it was an incredible eye opening experience – from what the necessities are, designing, adjusting, fabricating, everything,” he said.

The first day he worked out with the device after receiving it in May was memorable.

“I started crying, it was like a night and day difference, it was incredible,” said James.

Deidre remembers the call from her son after the workout.

“I could hear in his voice, he was crying and laughing at the same time. He said ‘I did it ... I can’t believe it,’ ” said Deidre, her own voice paralleling her son’s emotion

And now James blazes across the track. He won the Catholic High Pentathlon and set the school record in the 30-meter dash in December.

The experience has had such an impact on James that he is interning at Red Stick Orthopedic and Prosthetics. He has been accepted by several colleges and plans to study prosthetics.

“I’ve seen both sides of the coin,” he said. “I understand what its like to grow up and not being able to do something and just dealing with it and not having options. I want to change that for other people.

“I want people to have the chance to do something they have never done. I want to help them paint the picture they want to paint.”