Terry Gallaher's cartilage had so deteriorated around his knees that it felt like bone scraping bone when he walked.
He eventually got both knees replaced, and several doctors advised him to give up the sport he loved, racquetball.
This summer, five years after the surgery, the 55-year-old Cleveland, Tenn., resident finished as one of the top athletes in the statewide Senior Olympics in Franklin, Tenn., and he plans to compete in the national Senior Olympics in Houston in June 2011.
"I'm serious about winning a national championship with artificial knees," he said.
He plays at least five days a week, and said that in four years he's never lost a match.
COMPETITORSSoutheast Tennessee residents competing in the national Senior Olympics:Sharon Gallaher, 53Terry Gallaher, 55Joel Sherlin, 53
Mr. Gallaher is one of at least three Southeast Tennessee residents who competed in June at the statewide Senior Olympics in Franklin, Tenn., to earn spots at the national Senior Olympics next year.
He'll travel to Houston with his wife, Sharon, and her cousin, Joel Sherlin, of Cleveland.
The three of them will compete in racquetball singles, doubles and mixed doubles. Sharon Gallaher also will compete in the women's 3-on-3 basketball division.
To qualify for the nationals, all three athletes finished in the top three of their division at the state Olympics.
Sharon Gallaher won gold medals in mixed doubles racquetball and women's three-on-three basketball. She won a silver medal in women's singles racquetball.
Gallaher won gold medals in men's singles racquetball, men's doubles racquetball and mixed doubles racquetball. Sherlin won a gold medal in men's doubles racquetball.
Gallaher said some doctors told him he probably should stop playing racquetball and bowl or play golf.
But Dr. Timothy Ballard, the Chattanooga doctor who treated him, said the durability of the components used in joint replacements have been improved. That allows for more successful results with knee replacements, he said.
"With improved health care techniques for seniors, more and more adults are maintaining active lifestyles well into their seventh and eighth decades," the doctor said.
Gallaher is from a family of athletes. His son, Casey Gallaher, has been selected to compete in the Ironman triathlon in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, in October and another son, Brian, runs marathons.
Mr. Gallaher said the best part about his knee replacement and remaining active is that it allows him to play with his three grandchildren.