Man receives smart prosthesis ahead of Christmas

A Twin Cities amputee is getting an early Christmas gift.

In 2016, a flesh-eating bacteria nearly killed Mark Naegle, but an amputation saved his life.

Now, he’s among the first people in the world to receive a new "smart prosthesis."

Tuesday, he took his first steps using breakthrough technology — specifically, a brand new power knee bionic prosthetic.

The technology senses motion in your body, and anticipates your next move, causing it to react. It detects the user’s speed, walking style and adapts in real time.

Naegle has been using a regular prosthetic for about four years but says this changes everything.

"What I’ve really been looking forward to it as I told a couple people is being able to walk on the beach," Naegle said. "And being able to walk on the beach that’s angled like this in both directions because this thing will lift up and swing forward and I don’t have to worry about it dragging in the sand on the high sand side of the beach. … It’s just all of those little things in life. … It’s just so much more natural walking which for me that means I don’t fall down as much. I will still fall down a lot but I won’t fall down as much laughing."

The new smart prosthetic by Össur will launch in 2022, and users can walk, climb, run and also go up and down the stairs. It also adds power, taking pressure off other areas of concern such as the knees and back.