Steven Callaway was all but convinced that he was going to lose his leg. It had started with some strange, unexplained swelling around his left ankle in the summer of 2017. Doctors had no idea what was wrong and started giving him cortisone shots for the pain. Then, during a round of golf, the joint finally collapsed. After surgery to fuse the bones, three months on a knee scooter and then another collapse, the doctors told Callaway his only option was to amputate the entire left leg below the knee and replace it with a prosthetic.

"I was pretty much talked into it," says Callaway. "I went to the prosthetic place and talked with the owner, who told me about how this was the best possible scenario. But then I went home and started thinking about it."

Callaway wasn't afraid to lose the leg for himself. He wasn't worried about having limited mobility while running his security company and its 148 employees, playing golf, snow skiing, hunting, fishing or just walking on his 30-acre New Mexico ranch. He was, however, concerned about what it would mean to his wife and three small children. What if they woke up sick or crying in the middle of the night? What if they were in danger, and Callaway had to take some extra precious seconds to grab crutches or put on his prosthetic before rushing to the rescue? He decided to get one more opinion.

And that's when a friend referred him to Dr. Ava Washko.

Dr. Washko had seen this situation numerous times throughout her medical career—a patient in dire pain and doctors all too quick to simply throw up their hands. "If I were the patient, I wouldn't want to hear that all we can do is amputate," she says. "I can't accept that. I'm going to try."

After reviewing Callaway's case, Dr. Washko assured her new patient that, together, they could get him back on his own two feet again. And today, with Dr. Washko's ingenuity, skill and faith; the invaluable help of engineers and the operating room team at Cleveland Emergency Hospital; and a revolutionary 3D printing technology, Callaway is walking without pain on a reconstructed ankle that is even better than new.

"Everyone who looked at this case said we couldn't do a total ankle replacement," says Dr. Washko. Her response was: "Now watch this."

Dr. Washko had made a name for herself as a doctor who thinks outside the standard medical questionnaire checkbox. She was initially drawn to limb salvage because it requires quick, free thinking and fast action. In 2015, she left a group to start her own practice, vowing to challenge the revolving-door nature of most clinics and hospitals and commit the extra time and effort to really get to know her patients so that, when the time came, she might be better prepared to make those snap decisions. She also did her homework outside of the clinic. And a few years ago, she came across a prominent ankle replacement surgeon who had experimented with 3-D printing technology to treat ankle arthritis. Dr. Washko immediately saw the potential for that same technique to replace an entire ankle.

Traditionally, when the bones in the ankle are destroyed beyond repair, a replacement involves the use of a joint taken from a cadaver. But since the donor bone and tissue are already dead, they never really integrate with the recipient's body. It has to be rather crudely contoured to fit, and even then, the match is never perfect. The patient may never walk normally again. However, a 3-D printer can recreate an exact replica of the mirror image of a patient's healthy ankle and reconstruct the entire joint from scratch, allowing for a custom fit that can give walkers back their true stride.

Dr. Washko pitched this idea to Callaway.

"I'm pretty open-minded," says Callaway. "As soon as I met Dr. Washko and she started to tell me what she wanted to do, I knew she was genuine and that she wanted me to start walking again. From that day on, it never crossed my mind that I would ever have to do the prosthetic."

With Callaway willing and eager to get started, Dr. Washko approached the engineers and staff at Cleveland Emergency Hospital, who were also on board. They performed an intricate CT scan of Callaway's healthy ankle to provide the mirror-image blueprint. Then the engineers started printing the complex joint piece by piece, using high-grade plastics for bone and multi-layered braided polymers to create a cage-like webbing that could act as tendons and ligaments.

In October, Dr. Washko performed the surgery, which took 10 hours and 6 minutes. Callaway walked out of the hospital on his own power.

"I was told by multiple physicians that this was going to rewrite some textbooks," says Dr. Washko. "Even some engineers were telling me, 'You're crazy.' I know it seems crazy, but I knew this would work. You just have to have a little faith."

I was told by multiple physicians that this was going to rewrite some textbooks. Even some engineers were telling me, 'You're crazy.' I know it seems crazy, but I knew this would work. You just have to have a little faith

Today, with every step Callaway takes, he's blazing trails through medical history—all thanks to a doctor and a hospital that weren't afraid to try something new in order to help improve a patient's quality of life. More importantly for Callaway, he's finally striding through his old life again, playing golf and scheduling hunting and fishing trips. He recently toasted his regained mobility with his buddies at his local bar.

"I walked in and everyone looked down and yelled, 'Where's your walking boot?'" says Callaway. "I had one beer with them...and then went home for the real celebration with my family."