Max Fabrizio Conserva
I am an engineer, athlete, and adaptive athletics advocate. At the age of eight I was unintentionally engaged in a shoving match with a semi-truck. At first contact it became immediately clear that I had lost. However, not content with a simple knockdown victory, the big rig then proceeded to continue down the road dragging me along underneath. Fortunately the truck eventually stopped, allowing my life to continue. Defeat resulted in a long and intimate relationship with hospital beds an operating tables. My tractor trailer vs. pedestrian carrier ending with a cumulative 0-1 record. My retirement gift, a new unrecognizable version of my right leg, a mangled one.
I was left with an incredibly complex and unique injury and level of functionality. I soon resigned myself to the box that my disability seemed to sketched out. Twentyish years passed and I still found my condition standing in direct opposition to the life I wanted. With decades of ill fitting advice and solutions behind me, the realization slowly dawned on me: No one is going to solve these problems for me. My next thought was as eloquent as it was novel, “F*ck this, I’ll fix them myself.” No excuses, no more “what-ifs”.
I now spend my time creating solutions to push the boundaries of orthotics, orthopedics, and adaptive athletics. Utilizing the summation of my life to administer demolition to conceived barriers. You’ll find me on the workbench, training, coaching or on some stupid adventure that will probably get me hurt. I work with the amazing folks at the University of San Francisco Orthotics & Prosthetics Department, San Francisco CrossFit, Stanford Engineering, Crossroads Adaptive Athletic Alliance andIAmAdaptive. I am the creator of GoodLeg.org and MakeAdaptive.org (work in progress). #crossfit #snowboarding #tennis #cycling #running #justabouteverythingelse