ODD-SHOE FIRM EVENS SCORE FOR HARD-TO-FIT.

Byline: Jerry Nachtigal Associated Press 

When his left leg was amputated three years ago because of complications from diabetes, Patrick Hogan's need for shoes changed forever.

No store would sell him just one shoe, so he resigned himself to paying full price for a pair and tossing the left one into the growing pile at the back of his closet.

The retired radio announcer's luck changed when he came across the National Odd Shoe Exchange while thumbing through the phone book.

``This is a gift from heaven,'' said Hogan, admiring five right-footed dress, casual and athletic shoes, size 13-D, he picked out at the exchange's Phoenix headquarters. ``They're all brand new, never been on anyone else's foot.''

Since 1943, tens of thousands of people with two different-sized feet - or, like Hogan, only one foot - have looked to the nonprofit National Odd Shoe Exchange.

NOSE's cramped offices overflow with 1 million shoes donated by more than two dozen manufacturers. The organization counts 17,000 members in the United States and Canada, most of whom have mismatched shoe sizes because of disease, injury or birth defects.

Members shop for shoes for free at the organization's headquarters or order by mail, paying only the shipping costs.

NOSE fits the hard-to-fit, from a 2-year-old toddler in Arizona with a clubfoot to size 17 athletic shoes for a strapping 13-year-old boy in Ohio.

``We've had people come in and say, `I don't think you can help me, but I wear an adult size 7 on my right foot and a children's size 1 on my left,' '' said exchange director Jeanne Sallman. ``They're in tears when they leave with those shoes.''

Depending on their age, members pay a one-time registration fee of $15 or $25, plus $10 or $15 a year. The fees are waived for children under 5, adults 75 and older and people who cannot afford to pay.

Many of the shoes are manufacturers' overstocks. Some have slight defects, but most are in perfect condition. There are rows upon rows of different styles, from Nike Air models to Joan & David black pumps, handmade in Italy, the $229 price tag still attached.

``We once had a pair of $1,495 women's leather boots,'' volunteer Allen Dearwester said. ``God and the shoe companies have been very good to us.''

The shoe exchange also provides names and phone numbers of a member's ``mismate'' - an individual who has exactly the opposite shoe size problem. The mismates share shoe purchases, which means they don't have to buy two different-size pairs of shoes to come up with one wearable pair.

Sallman, 54, knows how hard it is for the estimated 10 percent of Americans with mismatched feet to find shoes. Childhood classmates called her a ``web-footed freak'' because a congenital condition left her right foot 2-1/2 sizes smaller than her left.

She has been a member since her mother saw an interview with NOSE founder Ruth Feldman on ``Art Linkletter's House Party'' in 1953. In 1983, Feldman persuaded Sallman, then a podiatric nurse in Des Moines, Iowa, to take over the organization.

MEMO: National Odd Shoe Exchange, 7102 N. 35th Ave., Suite 2, Phoenix, Ariz. 85051; [phone].