When a 100-pound case of tank ammunition dropped some 30 feet onto the left foot and ankle of John R. McCune in 1981, it marked the beginning of a slow decline for the soldier from North Collins.

McCune was forced to use a cane, and when complications occurred, a walker was needed.

In time, he required a motorized scooter. But as the bones in his leg and left hip deteriorated, he switched to a special wheelchair.

Despite all his physical struggles, the Army veteran says he is now becoming more mobile because of the care he receives from the Buffalo VA’s prosthetic department, which was honored earlier this week with a national award.

McCune, 46, says U. S. Department of Veterans Affairs prosthetic specialists at the Bailey Avenue medical center designed his motorized wheelchair in a way that allows him to recline and take body weight off his ailing hips and thighs.

The help, he said, also includes a pair of hardened plastic boots lined with wool to prevent his feet from bruising on the chair’s steel frame.

VA employees also went out to his home and arranged for installation of a concrete wheelchair access ramp and hiring of contractors to redesign his kitchen so that he can get around in it.

McCune suffered his injuries during tank live-fire exercises at Fort Bliss, Texas. He said the local VA’s selection as the “National Prosthetic Facility of the Year” is well deserved, not only for what it has done for him, but the many other veterans it assists in a caring manner.

Last year, 12,775 individuals were treated at the local prosthetic department. The award was presented Monday to coincide with National Prosthetics Day.

To further improve overall services, the local VA is involved in some $16 million in upgrades at its facilities that include the psychiatric ward at the hospital, said Evangeline Conley, VA spokeswoman.

A design phase has begun for a separate unit to accommodate veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress and other mental health issues that are occurring with increased frequency among troops returning from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

In addition, the VA has enlarged its dialysis unit to accommodate 18 patients, up from 13. Three laboratories are being renovated to allow for eye research, two operating rooms are being reconstructed, and private patient rooms on the fifth-floor C-wing are being updated.

As for McCune, who also deals with post-traumatic stress, he says the services he has obtained at the VA pulled him from the depths of despair.

“Without this prosthetic department I really wouldn’t be alive. The pain was so bad I would have killed myself, and I’m not lying,” McCune said, explaining that a combination of prosthetic devices and pain medication has made his life bearable.

He adds that VA staffers also let the patients provide input in making improvements on various treatments.

“We’ll tell them what’s working and what’s not,” he said, “and they’ll make the changes to do whatever it takes to work.”