BUTLER Twp., Montgomery county— Chris Trobough lost a leg to cancer, but he vows to learn to run.

With a little help.

The Air Force captain was fitted Friday with an artificial limb, dubbed the X2, a computer-controlled prosthesis, that replaced his left leg.

By September, the 31-year-old Huber Heights man hopes to run a 5K race with his family at Wright State University, one of the races hosted through the Air Force Marathon at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.

“I know it’s going to be hard,” said Trobough, a computer engineer at the National Air and Space Intelligence Center at the base. “I don’t know if I’ll be able to run the whole thing, but one way or the other I will cross the finish line.”

His mother, Debra Trobough, 56, of Jasper, Ala., is among the family members who expect to run with him in the race.

They ran a 10K race at the Air Force Marathon the year before he was diagnosed with cancer.

“He’s extremely goal-oriented and stubborn,” she said. “I’m hoping I can beat him finally. It will be tearful because it’s been a long struggle. He doesn’t say much about it.”

“It’s his faith that keeps him going,” she said.

Her son’s favorite book growing up, she said, was about Terry Fox, a Canadian man diagnosed with cancer at age 18 who had part of his leg amputated. He died at age 22 in the midst of a run across his homeland in 1980 to raise money for cancer research. A foundation bears his name today.

Chemotherapy treatments didn’t stop the progression of Chris Trobough’s cancer, and his leg was amputated last year.

“Ever since that day, I’ve been cancer free,” he said.

Trobough said he’ll leave the Air Force as an officer for medical reasons in two months, but will continue to work at NASIC as a civilian. With the new knee, he hopes to enjoy the things he did before: playing basketball, catch with his daughter, and hiking and camping.

The $70,000 prosthesis he now wears is the most advanced available to soldiers, said Tim Riedlinger, a clinical manager and a prosthetist who fitted Trobough with a new high-tech artificial knee at Optimus Prosthesis in Butler Twp.

The water-resistant, carbon frame knee protects a microprocessor that analyzes his gait, the angle the knee is flexed and the strain on his heel or toe, among other things, Riedlinger said.

“It’s brand new technology,” he said. “It’s the closest thing to date that mimics his natural knee.”

Trobough said he’s working with a physical therapist and a fellow runner to meet his goal of learning to run and compete in a race.

“I think it’s going to be a huge challenge,” Trobough said. “I know I’ve set the bar really high by making this 5K my goal.”

He’ll train with Thomas Cooper, a spinning instructor he met at the YMCA in Huber Heights.

“He said he was probably going to have to learn to run all over again,” said Cooper, 50, of New Carlisle. “We’re going to start from 50 feet or 100 yards and we’re going to push to get a 5K by September. Chris has tenacity and he’s going to be a real good guy to work with.”

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2363 or bbarber@DaytonDaily News.com.