Avon resident honors grandfather with documentary

Avon resident Katie Leimkuehler grew up in Westlake hearing about the amazing exploits of her Grandfather Paul, who died in 1996. A WWII veteran who lost his leg in the Battle of the Bulge, the Cleveland native turned tragedy into a triumph by building his own artificial leg that inspired the launch of his prosthetic business and a new ski technology. Today, Katie Leimkuehler is honoring her grandfather's against-all-odds achievement as the executive producer and visionary behind the new documentary "Fresh Tracks." "We grew up hearing his story and what he did," said Leimkuehler, 35, who has lived in Avon for three years. "That's what drew me to it because he did pass away when I was young. "Now as an adult, it was inspiring because he took such a negative moment and turned it into something positive." What's incredible about Paul is at a time when prosthetics were cumbersome at best, the athlete at heart was determined to live life to the fullest. This included not only discovering skiing, but also modeling his own contraption with poles and a ski outrigger used by European skiers. Paul purposely didn't patent the outrigger so other people could copy the design. "It's insane because the first time he went skiing was on a golf course hill at Cleveland Metroparks," Leimkuehler said. "He hiked up there with all of his ski gear on one leg and skied down. He'd go to Boston Mills and ski. People would stop him. It was quite the sight to see. You didn't see anybody then skiing on one leg. "My family always said he was like a celebrity. It was quite a challenge at that time with no handicap parking. There weren't even chairlifts around here. It was a tow rope, which is difficult for an amputee. He definitely overcame a lot of obstacles." While paling by comparison, Leimkuehler had to also overcome hurdles bringing her grandfather's story to light. Leimkuehler, who is a former Chicago Tribune journalist, published author and current CEO of corporate branding and strategic content marketing consulting firm Leimkuehler Media, originally conceived the project as a feature film that, perhaps, could find Leonardo DiCaprio playing the role of Paul. However, after she wrote the screenplay six years ago, the project stalled. That is until she pivoted into creating a documentary. The result is the 47-minute "Fresh Tracks," which shows how Paul — a member of the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame, the U.S. Disabled Snow Sports Hall of Fame and the Ohio Veterans Hall of Fame — forever changed the skiing industry. The film highlights his influence on Paralympic skiers and snowboarders today, including gold medalists Mike Schultz and Andrew Kurka. The latter is the "Fresh Tracks" narrator. "It turned out great," Leimkuehler said. "I believe the story is true to my grandfather's roots and what we wanted to highlight — that you can turn your challenges into opportunities. That really comes across in the film. "I think he'd be really grateful that people care enough to make a story or a film about him and honor him in that way. He'd hopefully be very proud of it." For more information on the documentary, visit www.freshtracksfilm.com. Contact John Benson at Ndiffrence@att.net.