The Herald, Sharon, Pa.

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  • Marty Pettitt, left, accepts his prosthetic leg found Saturday by the Shenango River Watchers, represented by Rick Barborak.

    Prosthetic leg returned
April 23, 2010

Mystery solved: Owner of prosthetic leg steps up

By Matt Snyder Herald Staff Writer

SHARON — Shenango River Watchers were left to puzzle over an artificial leg they found Saturday during a cleanup of the river near Bicentennial Park in Sharon.

As it turns out, the owner lost his footing during Sharon’s 2006 Small Ships Revue. He’s since gotten a new prosthesis but that doesn’t mean the artificial limb fished out of the river won’t help someone else get a leg up.

Marty Pettitt of Hartford said he’s decided to clean the prosthesis and donate it to Haiti.  

Pettitt lost his prosthetic leg while riding on one of the dozens of homemade vessels that ply the Shenango during Sharon’s signature summertime festival. It is not uncommon for some to sink.

In 2006, Pettitt’s boat — representing the downtown bar the Riverfront Zoo, which he used to own and is now No Names Tavern — lost its plug and sank. Pettitt, while swimming down-river, lost his prosthesis, he said.

They sent a snorkel diver down to claim it, but he didn’t have any luck. “It kind of wasn’t a very good deal,” Pettitt said, who had to go leg-less for a month before he could get a new one.

The leg was an experimental prototype built in Hermitage and cost $34,000, said River Watchers co-founder Rick Barborak.

After the River Watchers found the leg and claimed it among the “unusual” items recovered in the 800,000 pounds of trash they’ve cleaned up over the last nine years, The Herald ran a story and a buzz began to circulate on whose leg it was.

Barborak confirmed the leg belonged to Pettitt, who knew the type of shoe and serial number. He received calls from several other people trying to claim the leg, including one woman whose prosthetic leg was stolen last year.

Still unsure of the state of the leg, Pettitt said it’s made from titanium, plastic and stainless steel, and some parts will still be useable in other prosthetics. He intends to send the leg or its parts to Haiti, along with a package being put together by his prosthetics builder.

Pettitt said family in Ashtabula, Ohio, and as far as California heard the story, which was picked up by The Associated Press and spread across the country. “I’ve had so many people say, ‘It’s got to be your leg, it’s got to be your leg.’ ”

What he couldn’t believe was that his shoe was still on it.

Barborak said the story has been great publicity for Shenango River Watchers.

The leg is among many odd items they’ve found, including cars, blow-up dolls and an immense, concrete lawn ornament that has become the group’s mascot “Scrappy the Duck.”

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