doubleamputee marine vet joins nypd
Last Updated : GMT 06:49:16
Arab Today, arab today
Arab Today, arab today
Last Updated : GMT 06:49:16
Arab Today, arab today

Double-amputee Marine vet joins NYPD

Arab Today, arab today

Arab Today, arab today Double-amputee Marine vet joins NYPD

Matias Ferreira (centre) celebrates with his two-year-old daughter, his wife (left) and mother
BRENTWOOD, N.Y - Arab today

The wounded warrior is now a cop - and he’ll be walking the beat on titanium legs.

Matias Ferreira, a former US Marine Corps lance corporal who lost his legs below the knee when he stepped on a hidden explosive in Afghanistan in 2011, is joining a suburban New York police department.

The 28-year-old graduated Friday from the Suffolk County Police Academy on Long Island following 29 weeks of training.

The 6’1’’, 98kg rookie passed all the physical training and other requirements just like any other recruit, including running a mile and a half in around 11 minutes. He begins patrols next week, a department spokesman said.

“I just really want to be able to help people,” said Ferreira, who immigrated to the US from Uruguay as a child. “I want to be involved in the community, and the police department definitely allows you to do that.

Ferreira was on patrol in Afghanistan on Jan. 21, 2011, when he jumped off a roof in a compound suspected of being a Taliban outpost.

“As soon as I landed I knew something was wrong because it was like a movie almost. I heard a noise and everything went black,” he said. A bomb had gone off beneath his legs, amputating both below the knees. “I just saw blood throughout my pants.”

He was evacuated to a local hospital. Within days, he was back in the US being treated for his injuries. Three months later he was wearing prosthetic legs.

“I was up and walking in prosthetics and really just starting my new life,” he said.

That new life has included many activities he had never tried before the explosion. He has played on a softball team of wounded warriors. He skydives, scuba dives, snowboards and rides a motorcycle.

Raised in Georgia, he met his future wife, Tiffany, when his softball team played a game on Long Island in 2012. The couple now has a 2-year-old daughter.

After working as a steamfitter, welding while hanging off bridges and overpasses, Ferreira decided to take the exam to become a police officer. He scored a perfect 100, and his fellow recruits later elected him class president.

“He has served this great country with outstanding distinction, and will now serve and protect the residents of Suffolk County,” Police Commissioner Timothy Sini said in a statement.

Ferreira acknowledges the job will bring challenges, but approaches his new career with a sense of humour. He said he was once asked during academy training whether he has concerns about injuries.

“If I break my leg, I go in the trunk and put on a different one and I keep on going,” he said.

He lives by the motto that “life without limbs is limitless.”

“The only disability we have is the ones that we make,” he said

source : gulfnews

arabstoday
arabstoday

Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

doubleamputee marine vet joins nypd doubleamputee marine vet joins nypd

 



Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

doubleamputee marine vet joins nypd doubleamputee marine vet joins nypd

 



GMT 12:47 2016 Thursday ,01 September

'La La Land' musical masterpiece dazzles Venice film fest

GMT 12:42 2017 Monday ,20 February

Dalia al-Behairy begins 'Yawmiyat Zoga Mafrosa'

GMT 19:01 2017 Wednesday ,30 August

Oil prices down as US reels from Harvey

GMT 04:19 2017 Monday ,08 May

National forces attack mercenaries in Taiz

GMT 19:21 2017 Sunday ,07 May

Iranian Film Week opens in Baghdad

GMT 21:33 2017 Sunday ,30 July

Arab Quartet meeting kicks off in Bahrain

GMT 17:17 2016 Friday ,07 October

Aleppo bleeds as US and Russia spar

GMT 12:03 2015 Monday ,21 December

Nepal protester killed in constitutional crisis clash

GMT 09:47 2016 Thursday ,22 December

Trump vows to cut F-35 spending, as leaked memo

GMT 21:44 2017 Friday ,15 December

King establishes Hawar Development Committee

GMT 20:57 2017 Tuesday ,16 May

Naval Forces rescue 23 tourists in Hurghada

GMT 12:56 2017 Monday ,11 December

Lyon leave it late, Balotelli with Nice winner

GMT 06:18 2017 Thursday ,19 October

Russian delegation meets with Julphar chairman

GMT 21:20 2017 Monday ,23 October

Nasr, delegation of London Stock Exchange

GMT 14:40 2012 Saturday ,10 March

Magdy Al-Galad steps down

GMT 09:47 2017 Sunday ,12 March

Cat Camp in New York attracts cat lovers

GMT 14:57 2016 Friday ,09 September

Madonna, Ritchie settle child custody dispute

GMT 23:52 2017 Monday ,18 September

UAE economic growth boosting logistics sector
Arab Today, arab today
 
 Arab Today Facebook,arab today facebook  Arab Today Twitter,arab today twitter Arab Today Rss,arab today rss  Arab Today Youtube,arab today youtube  Arab Today Youtube,arab today youtube

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©

arabstoday arabstoday arabstoday arabstoday
arabstoday arabstoday arabstoday
arabstoday
بناية النخيل - رأس النبع _ خلف السفارة الفرنسية _بيروت - لبنان
arabstoday, Arabstoday, Arabstoday