He had undergone an above-the knee amputation on his right leg at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham and, as part of the surgery, a vein was removed from his left leg leaving a wound which would not heal properly.

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The precocious 6-year-old was born with a congenital heart defect and had a complication with a tube inserted in his right leg, leading to an amputation above his knee.

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An athlete all his life, Howard was a distance runner for the University of California, Irvine cross-country team before a diagnosis of osteosarcoma and amputation of his left leg just below the knee.

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