On his way home from work on a road he had traveled on his motorcycle dozens of times, a car rolled through a stop sign causing Greg R. to veer off the road. He went into the guardrail, where his foot caught and was almost completely torn off. The motorcycle was destroyed.
Doctors managed to keep the foot attached, but Greg opted for amputation, knowing he would be facing multiple surgeries and not having a fully functional foot. He returned to work 4.5 months later, using a cane for only a month before discarding it.
"I'm a manufacturing manager, and the building is about 150,000 square feet. I walk that floor every day, five miles a day. That was my rehab - stepping over power cables, stepping over hydraulic lines, and cutting around corners.
"I could have rolled over, felt sorry for myself, laid on the couch for the rest of my life, and be paid for it. But that's not me; that's not who I am, and that is not how I was raised. So I grabbed the bull by the horns and moved forward.
"People ask me how long it took to use a prosthesis. I'm not used to it. I'm accustomed to it. I'll never be used to it because I want my foot back. I'm accustomed to the fact that I've been given a tool to use to walk. I've been taking walking for granted all my life, so now every time I put a foot down, I'm thankful I can put a foot down."
Greg's passion for motorcycle riding continues. "There is a Harley in the garage, and I'm doing some personalization. I'm riding up and down our driveway and I'm working on foot braking. I've been riding since I was 19, and I love it. The driver took my foot; she didn't take my desire to ride. I'm not going to let somebody take something that belongs to me. She doesn't get to win; I do."
