The AMP'D UP211 Podcast

In this episode of The AMP’D UP211 Podcast , I sit down with Gini Thomas , a creator, advocate, and unapologetically real voice in the amputee community. Gini is best known for her transparent, often humorous look into life as an amputee. Through social media, she educates, challenges assumptions, a...

On this episode of The AMP’D UP211 Podcast , host Rick Bontkowski; amputee, advocate, drummer, and storyteller, sits down with one of the most unexpectedly extraordinary people you’ll ever meet: Mark Watson . Mark isn’t a celebrity. He isn’t a decorated athlete. He isn’t a world-traveling motivation...

She didn’t just rewrite the rules, she built an entirely new playbook.  Viktoria Modesta, the world’s first amputee pop star and one of the most iconic creative forces in modern culture, sits down with Rick Bontkowski for a rare, revealing conversation. From medical trauma to global stages… From sil...

What if a retired prosthetic could be more than a memory? What if it could become a knife that honors a veteran’s story… or fund a child’s new leg… or even help an amputee climb a 14,000-foot mountain? In this inspiring episode, Rick Bontkowski sits down with Jason Dickens, founder of ReDefined Pros...

On this episode of The AMP’D UP211 Podcast, host Rick Bontkowski welcomes Katy Grainger, a sepsis survivor whose life changed forever in the span of just a few days. What began as a small cut on her thumb quickly escalated into septic shock, organ failure, and a medically induced coma. When Katy awo...

What does it take to return to one of the most physically demanding jobs on earth, after losing your leg ? In this unforgettable episode of The AMP’D UP211 Podcast , host Rick Bontkowski sits down with Michael Laughlin , Canada’s first amputee firefighter, whose story is as courageous as the job he’...

In this powerful episode of The AMP’D UP211 Podcast , host Rick Bontkowski sits down with Parker Byrd, a standout athlete, college baseball player, and the first NCAA Division I player to compete with a prosthetic leg. After a life-altering boating accident took his leg, Parker defied every odd and ...

What does it take to stare down adversity and keep climbing, literally? In this episode of The AMP’D UP211 Podcast, host and creator Rick Bontkowski sits down with Tom Jalinski, a bilateral below-the-knee amputee who refused to let limb loss define his limits. Tom takes us deep into the mental and p...