A young police officer who lost his right foot in a tragic accident just one day before he was set to go on his first patrol has returned to work six months after the crash.
29-year-old Mike Crowe from Bakersfield, California, has been inspiring people around him ever since he returned to active duty following the amputation of his right foot.
Watch Committed One-Footed Police Officer Reveal His Exercise Routine!
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Then-22-year-old Mike was riding his motorbike when a car collided with him and sent him flying 200 feet away. Following the crash, the young man’s foot was “hanging by a piece of skin” before the doctors removed it completely and replaced it with a prosthetic leg.
For 6 months, Mike was recovering from the accident that cost him his right foot. Following the demanding rehabilitation, the cop, who just graduated from the police academy before the accident, returned to active duty and passed various physical tests such as scaling a wall and running for a mile.
“When I woke up in hospital I was in excruciating pain and I felt completely desperate. I had just graduated from the University of Arizona and the police academy and then my foot was completely severed,” Mike recalled.
“I thought my life was over at that point. I thought I wouldn’t be a police officer, the career I had been working towards for years.
“I consulted three doctors and they gave me a 50 percent chance of saving my foot but they would have to pull skin and ligaments from other areas of my body.
“I may not have been able to run, jump or have an active lifestyle. It was that or they could cut off my foot, so I took a quarter and flipped it and it landed on tails so I had it amputated.”
Following the amputation, the real challenge began – learning how to live with just one foot.
“Recovery started immediately. As soon as I got out of hospital I started going to rehab and physical therapy five times a week and then the gym for a couple of hours,” Mike added.
“It was difficult and I went into a depression. I didn’t think my life was going to get back to normal and I started getting suicidal thoughts. About three months after my accident I got my prosthetic leg and was able to walk again.
“The thought of getting back to work was one of the biggest motivators for me. I wanted to say, ‘Hey, I can do this. Watch me do this.’”
Just six months after the accident, Mike resumed his job as a police officer and proved the naysayers wrong.
“People thought I wouldn’t be able to do it but I proved them wrong. Going back to work was a surreal moment,” Mike expressed.
“It has never held me back in any way. I have to take care of myself a little bit more – at the end of my shift I have to ice my leg – but other people have bad backs or knees…
“People are surprised when they see my prosthetic leg but when I wear pants you would never know. I blend in…
“There are men and woman around the country who face harder challenges because of their disability but they don’t let that stop them from pursuing their dream.”
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