The first time Rebel Stroman lost his leg was in 1972, during his army service in the Vietnam War. As a helicopter pilot he flew supplies in and retrieved wounded soldiers. No matter the situation, he completed his mission. "I had a reputation that I never left anybody," he says. "I knew that if I didn't get them, there was nobody else coming." When a hand held rocket blew off his right leg, he was able to have it re-attached.
At home he started his career as a truck driver. "My father drove a truck and had his own company," Stroman recalls. "It seemed to be a good, honest occupation, and when I got out of the service, I began driving." It was while hauling a load of steel bars in 1988 that he lost his right leg for good. Stopped at a weigh station, he found that one of the bars was in a position that put an axle over weight. Stroman got out to readjust the load, only to have a 20,000-pound steel bar break free, knock him off the truck, and cut his re-attached leg off, six inches above the knee.
At that point, some people might have decided to go into another line of work, but Stroman loved being a driver. He was leasing five trucks, and found himself running his business from a hospital bed. When he was able to drive again, he decided to buy his own truck. He calls his company One Leg Transport.
"I drove for almost two years without my right leg," he says. "No accidents. No tickets of any kind." But in 1990, with the introduction of the Commercial Drivers License (CDL), Stroman's medical condition was re-evaluated. The U.S. Department of Transportation determined that in order for him to continue driving professionally, Stroman would need to modify his truck. The instruction seemed simple - he needed to alter the truck from a standard transmission to automatic. But the cost was significant. At that moment, Stroman took his first step from being another owner-operator trying to make a living, to becoming an advocate for the rights of disabled drivers everywhere.
He contacted his senator, John Heinz of Pennsylvania, for help, saw his case reach the first President Bush, and ended up with a government grant to alter his truck.
When obstacles came up because of his disability, Stroman confronted them and advocated necessary changes. He was the first driver to get a handicapped parking space for his truck in a residential area. He advocated for curb cuts for wheelchair access in Red Hill, Pennsylvania, where he lives with his family, though he himself does not use a wheelchair. He has made it a point to find a way to get fair treatment for himself and other disabled drivers, and made great progress. "Many other disabled drivers have contacted me because they have not been able to get back into trucking," Stroman says. "Some have lost limbs and were disqualified from driving, and they ask me for advice on what they can do to obtain their CDL license."
Through it all, it never occurred to Stroman to give up trucking. "I love the freedom, the independence. As a driver, there's no one to blame but yourself if you succeed or fail. You do your thing the best you can." With everything he's accomplished, Stroman proves that his best is pretty remarkable.
