By FireRescue1 Staff
DENTON, Texas — A firefighter who had his leg amputated 10 months ago is back on duty.
CBS DFW reported that Gary Weiland’s goal was to get back to work full-duty after experiencing complications from knee surgery in Nov. 2018.
“Waking up in a hospital bed, the doctor saying we’re going to have to amputate your leg, which is pretty unbelievable considering I was just running around on the football field, throwing a ball with the kids, and having a great time,” Weiland said. “It was tough to swallow.”
Two days post-op, he was telling everyone he would make it back to full-duty, Fire Chief Kenneth Hedges said.
“We all have obstacles, we all have adversity – everyone,” Weiland said. “And how you respond to that adversity is what determines your character. I’m a firefighter and I have a prosthetic leg. So, if I can do that, the world is your oyster.”
Now that he’s back at work, Weiland’s next goal is making it to the Paralympics in Tokyo next year as part of Team USA’s High Performance Sitting Volleyball Team.
https://twitter.com/CBSDFW/status/1181348974713856001