More Than a Comeback: Jake Smerka on Amputation, Identity, and Finding His Way Back

After a devastating car accident led to the amputation of his lower leg, Jake Smerka faced a recovery that demanded far more than physical strength.

Jake joins the Closing Time Podcast to share the unfiltered reality of rebuilding his life, from the painful and unglamorous days of recovery to the anger, grief, guilt, and isolation that often go unseen. He opens up about the unwavering support of his wife, Paris, the challenge of learning to accept help, and the moment he began to feel like himself again.

Jake also takes us inside his experience with the Adaptive Training Foundation, where intense training, community, and identity work helped him rediscover what his body and mind were capable of. Now pursuing adaptive sports, a training certification, and new ways to serve others, Jake is building something larger than a comeback.

This conversation is not simply about “staying positive.” It is about losing part of yourself, letting others walk beside you, and discovering that life after trauma can still be competitive, meaningful, and fully your own.

You can find me as David Monsour a.k.a. Disco Davo on most social media applications as well as my contact 
davidmonsour.com.

Transcript

SPEAKER_05 0:22

Now I gotta start over. And I can use my headmaster joke quick again. All right, this is going. All right, hey everybody, welcome to the closing time podcast. Today is it's Monday, August 3rd. The only reason I bring that up is because it is the first day of school here in Georgia. I've got a ninth grader, a new high school kid, and today I have the headmaster of life on with me, Mr. Jake Smirka. How are you? All right, so I'm gonna go ahead and go because we we're doing a little bit of voice. I mean, the podcast is voice, so sorry for anybody watching that seeing all the video jumping around.

SPEAKER_03 1:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 1:10

I don't know if I need to redo my introduction. I got Jake Smurger just in case you missed all of it with all the pre-frames or we have to edit it. I'm gonna start with some mortgage quiz just to see the average person what they know about mortgages. So, what do you believe is the minimum down payment required to get a mortgage law?

SPEAKER_02 1:30

Um maybe I always heard you want to do what is it, 20%, but that's it's surely it's less than that.

SPEAKER_05 1:41

Yes, that's a good a lot. I I didn't know that anyone still believed it was 20%, but I asked I've asked this question once before, and they were like, isn't it 20%? I was like, wow, people do, because that's uh supposedly a myth. Is it is not you can obviously there are a couple hundred percent programs, but for the average person, three percent commissional, three and a half percent. What is what is a jumbo loan? Big one, a big one. And you know, that's a perfect answer. You know, it's there's a definition based on Fannie Man conforming loan limits. A jumbo loan is outside of what is guaranteed and and insured, but we won't go into that definition. Let's see. Last one, what's the what is the minimum credit score you gotta have to buy a house?

SPEAKER_02 2:36

That I have no clue on. I personally need to get a credit card in my staff.

SPEAKER_05 2:42

You better decide with some credit, yes. So, and this could vary for l by lender, you know. Generically, we're gonna say 620. There are loan programs that go below that if you meet certain guidelines, etc. But that's not what we're here to talk about. Yeah, we're talking, we're here to talk to Jake. Um, look, you're frozen now. It's funny, I can see on the zoom one. We're here to talk about Jake and his leg. Just plain and simple. So, how are you doing? Oh, he brought his leg with him. That's awesome. Okay. Tell me, tell me uh, before we get into the accident and everything that's going on now, who was Jake before that? Because I know you probably had a lot of time to to think and reflect, and um, we're gonna get into how you might have changed personally, but who would you say Jake Smirka was, you know, six months before the accident or growing up, or who were you?

SPEAKER_02 3:42

Yeah, I would I would say active. I love lacrosse growing up, played a lot of lacrosse. I mean, just about any sport, if there is a ball that shapes around, I was up for it. Now, regular running, you didn't see me doing a ton of that before. But if there was a ball involved, I was I was game.

SPEAKER_05 4:01

Very studious too. You like to read a lot of books too, right? Why do I have that book? I believe I had that book. Oh wow. I think I had that. Max must have had to read that.

SPEAKER_03 4:17

So for sure.

SPEAKER_05 4:21

So you were in an automobile accident. It was not your fault. Yes. We don't need to get into how or why, but the other person crossed over, slammed into you, and there you had to make a decision at some point. It wasn't like it just amputated it at the scene, but you you had it was a pretty serious accident. You look your ankles were crushed, and you had to make a decision, and you ended up deciding to yeah, let's protect my life.

SPEAKER_02 4:53

Put it back together and everything, and had it wrapped up, and I was actually like fixed enough to where they sent me home, and then I was home for about five days, and then on Christmas Day checked back into the hospital.

SPEAKER_05 5:08

That's right. You had a bad fever or something, or it was hurting.

SPEAKER_02 5:11

I I never ran a temperature, which is crazy. And it was badly infected, which is very strange.

SPEAKER_01 5:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 5:18

Um but then after that they cleaned it out probably three different times, and it was still producing gas. And at that point, it was like, we can keep we can keep going this direction and risk it going higher up, which is I mean, if you end up with an above the knee, it's like a hundred times worse than below the knee.

SPEAKER_05 5:41

So your amputation is right below the knee. So you still have move, you can move the knee.

SPEAKER_02 5:47

Yeah, probably seven inches below the knee or so. Okay, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 5:52

Wow, that's a seven inches seems like a long seven inches is huge.

SPEAKER_02 5:59

So, like technically my knee would sit right here. Okay, and then this is the rest of my limb, and then there's about ten inches to fit across the okay.

SPEAKER_05 6:12

So are there different are there different points where people can replace it, or is there a spot in the leg that they want to amputate? So maybe they didn't have to take take it right at the shin, but it's better to, or whatever. I don't know. I'm ignorant on it, so I'm just asking the question.

SPEAKER_02 6:29

Yeah, I some people have it like where it's just like pretty much their foot is just taken and they have a very long limb, but that limits your prosthetics that you can get as far as what like what you can get. You almost you almost need a something that's uh they call it a posterior mount where it mounts on the back and then will slide under because your limb would be like down here.

SPEAKER_05 6:56

Okay. You're still rocking the crocs, I say. I mean, maybe you could get a sponsorship or something. Oh, so it's not a croc, that's a different brand.

SPEAKER_02 7:13

It's called canes, yeah. They're they're technically recovery shoes, but I mean I cannot stop wearing them.

SPEAKER_05 7:20

That's awesome. So you got one for the other foot too.

SPEAKER_02 7:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 7:23

So you're able to, when you go shoe shopping, you don't just buy one, like you don't get a discount, and just I just need the right one. You go ahead and buy both, and you have to change the prosthetic out?

SPEAKER_02 7:34

Yeah, Nike actually has a program where once a year you can get just one shoe shipped to you as a running shoe.

SPEAKER_05 7:42

So have you named the the prosthetic or your nub? Just give it a little nickname, nothing? Okay. All right, well, take me back. What what was the moment like uh when was it that you realize that you that your life has changed now? Because I'm sure at some point you're like, oh, this just happens, I'm gonna battle this, I'm gonna recover. And what was there where's there was there a specific moment that you realize, okay, this is not going the direction I thought. My entire life is changing.

SPEAKER_02 8:13

Yeah, probably back to the hospital when they said it was infected, because they had Christmas? Yeah, but they had talked about it before then, like, hey, like if this gets infected, and they were talking about how damaged my heel pad was, which is a a major key because you can't like you can do a lot of skin graphs for different parts of your body, but your heel you can't replace it.

SPEAKER_05 8:38

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 8:40

And so since my heel pad was so damaged, I already knew that amputation was kind of on the table, but we were hoping for the best. And then once they said it was infected and just kept producing gas, which I don't really know what that means either.

SPEAKER_05 8:56

Yeah, uh there were a couple questions I was going with. I was like, no, let's keep this above the level. Uh like, no, that was my foot. That wasn't me.

SPEAKER_03 9:05

That was uh normal for sure.

SPEAKER_05 9:09

But and and just trying to remember, I feel like there might have been a point where you were like, even if we can save my foot, amputation might still be better. And maybe that's because of the Hill thing that you talked about.

SPEAKER_02 9:23

Definitely think that because people think, like, man, like, do you think you should have like, should y'all have got it checked out before? And maybe it wouldn't have got affected or got it cleaned out earlier. But like my other foot needed surgery too, and I have a metal plate in that one, and I had to have the toes pinned for months. Oh, like, yeah, so like looking back now, like I know how bad that foot is still to this day. So, like, to think that my other foot was crushed, say twice as bad as that one, I don't think I would want to have it right.

SPEAKER_05 9:59

So your other foot still causes you great pain, or yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_02 10:03

Like, I wear shoes like almost 100% of the day. Like I I don't really walk barefoot ever just because how uncomfortable it is. I think maybe like the way my bones healed in my foot, or maybe the surgery like caused me to lose sort of like the the tissue, like where the your toes kind of meet your foot. Right. It's just like very prominent.

SPEAKER_05 10:31

So so even on your right foot, do you have special insoles that help you or anything?

SPEAKER_02 10:35

Or yeah, I just wear smooths pretty much all the time, and with shoes on, it's nothing to complain about for sure.

SPEAKER_05 10:43

I would complain.

unknown 10:45

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 10:48

And that that is half of the reason, and I don't I don't want to go overboard, but yeah, what you're doing and have done is just incredible. So I'll just I'll leave it at that. People could check out your Instagram and we'll talk a little bit more about what you've done, but it's just incredible. So was it was there ever a point where you didn't think you'd be okay? Like would you did you ever fear for your life like with that?

SPEAKER_02 11:10

Because I know that infection could have gone to your heart, or just like kind of when I got out of my car and I was just kind of laying on the ground, like I didn't know, I didn't know how bad anything was. And that's just kind of a weird feeling. Just like knowing that you're awake somehow, these people are talking to you.

SPEAKER_05 11:34

And that's gotta be weird. I I have nothing to relate that to, but I I would imagine that if you were in some deep form of shock or injury, you don't know how close you are to death, or you just should you just get your bell rung like you would in the cross or football. Like I would imagine, which is probably a good thing. Like, I don't want to know. And hey, this is I got 10 more breaths left. That would be awful. Nice. So the you were in the hospital a good bit, along several months, if I'm correct.

SPEAKER_02 12:05

It's just total maybe a month, a little bit.

SPEAKER_05 12:09

So then so then but you were bedridden, I guess, what'd you call it bedridden at home?

SPEAKER_02 12:15

Yeah, for a while a while. I would roll around. I they moved my bed down to the first floor, and I would wheel around in my wheelchair and stuff. And then I finally built up enough courage to get my mom to drop me off with that wheelchair at the gym, and that made a huge difference.

SPEAKER_05 12:33

That's awesome. Well, I know I know when I'd see you, you you had this same big smile on, and and you don't just smile with your mouth, you smile with your eyes and your whole face. So I feel like you can't really hide it, but how was it at home when nobody's there? I mean, did you grieve the loss of that leg? Were you feeling sorry for yourself? I mean, was there an extended period or very brief, or were you just like ready to fight from get-go?

SPEAKER_02 13:02

I mean, uh it just kind of felt like more to me, it was more of a happy to be alive than a like, oh, I feel bad that I lost my foot. Like I to me, that just was an easier route. And I know that's not the case for most people. Um it's just not none of it's easy. Deciding you're gonna lose it, or I felt like I didn't even really have a choice. Like it felt like that was the only option.

SPEAKER_05 13:36

Would you say, even though it was your decision, but would you say that was a harder decision for your mom to make than it was for you?

SPEAKER_02 13:45

Everybody to me it was like, I mean, this is like a clear, like the only option.

SPEAKER_05 13:50

Yeah, like let's do it, let's move on. Let's get it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 13:55

Like you try to keep it like you'd only be able to walk like very slow, like you wouldn't even be able to stand for like a long time, and like I'm like right there, like cut the cut the thing. Sound like the life I want to live.

SPEAKER_05 14:12

Right. So let's talk about the the early stages. Who showed up for you? And I know I know you know your mom's an obvious answer, your parents are incredible, your brother's incredible. But who showed up for you that maybe you didn't expect? That you were like, Yeah, wow, like I didn't expect a wife.

SPEAKER_02 14:32

Um so I I have been going up to North Carolina just about every weekend to hang out with parents, and literally the week before my accident, we went ring shopping and picked out a ring, and then like three days later, I get in this accident. And it's like, whoa.

SPEAKER_03 14:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 14:54

It's been I mean, Golly, talk about affirmation because I mean that is a that's a spot where some people could have cut and run. Like, if they were not certain about you, they would have probably likely cut and run. So that says a lot about her as a person, and and you know, her effort shows about her as a person, but her staying and fighting shows about her commitment to you even before it was legal or anything like that. I mean, that's just yeah, that's pretty incredible, too. Look at this. I think of um have you seen the movie Tombstone?

SPEAKER_03 15:37

Uh-uh.

SPEAKER_05 15:38

You haven't seen Tombstone with Falcon? Oh, that's cool. Well, he gets shot in the arm or whatever, and he's like, I still got one good arm to hold you, Abigail. And it was such it was such a cool scene in the movie because he's like the tough sheriff. She's all crying. He's like, I got one good arm to hold you. We'll have to look that up. Maybe if I got time, I'll crop it right here in this little video.

SPEAKER_02 16:03

So yeah, but without my family and my wife, I mean, I wouldn't be nearly where I am right now. I mean, the amount of time that she's given me to get back to where I am, and now it's my turn to find a job and get going that part. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 16:21

Are there a lot of jobs for one-legged people? I think you made it like you should apply for like CEO of Microsoft, because then you can be like, oh, is it because of my leg? Yeah. Uh-huh.

unknown 16:33

I agree.

SPEAKER_05 16:34

I'd go for it. I'd go for it. All right. So you found, is it ATF? Is that the right initials?

SPEAKER_03 16:40

Yes, ATF.

SPEAKER_05 16:41

Tell us about that because that was I I remember the application process, and you know, for anybody that doesn't know, I know Jake's mom very well. And we exercise together and and walk, and she cries a lot and talks about everything. And so she shares a lot. So if you wonder why I know so many details about this young man, is because his mom shares a lot. So you applied. Evidently, that is something very difficult to get into. And is it mostly military or people that have been hurt? I remember you, it was very unique and and yeah, it was great. It was incredible that you were able to get in when it's yeah, I don't I don't remember them.

SPEAKER_02 17:31

I mean, unreal as far as working with adaptive athletes and just people that want to move on with life and become a better version of themselves and their situations they're in.

SPEAKER_05 17:46

So you you said athletes, is it designed to help people get back into athletics, or did they have to have a previous athletic background? Or just because of the movements y'all did, do you call it that? Because y'all did a lot of exercise.

SPEAKER_02 18:03

You automatically get qualified as an athlete.

SPEAKER_05 18:06

Yeah. Oh, for sure.

SPEAKER_02 18:08

Most people for sure have probably had previous athletic background, or since like being in the program, definitely want to get into things like that.

SPEAKER_05 18:18

You probably wouldn't have found success if you didn't have an athletic background. Because I I believe I remember I hear heard a story of a you know, one of those 20%, but I remember hearing a story that somebody used the number if your child is not involved in some sport by the age of 10, they will never be athletic their entire life. And I don't know if that's true, but it kind of makes sense. It's kind of like they say you need to learn a you need to start a language before the age of 10, or they'll never get the true dialect, they'll never truly be able to speak it as though they're native if they don't learn it very young. So, I mean, that's just my thought is like you're used to the athletic. If you never exercise and you're the person that skipped PE and you lost your leg, you're probably not gonna be happy with what you were doing.

SPEAKER_02 19:08

Yeah, sure, I'd be in a far different scenario than I am now. Like, even though like I would go to the gym before losing my leg, and I was an avid gym goer and a very manual job, and obviously athletics before then, but it's definitely a different type of training.

SPEAKER_05 19:32

And there are videos. I think there's a Facebook and Instagram, and there's probably do they do it once a year or once a quarter, or how often do they bring groups in?

SPEAKER_02 19:41

Try to do about three of the 10-week classes a year, and then they they do other hyper classes like two-day classes, I think, and then a 10-day class.

SPEAKER_05 19:54

So there's probably another class that you somebody could follow on and see what they're doing. Because I know there were a lot of videos that they tagged you on that I was able to see.

SPEAKER_03 20:02

So if you were Yeah, no doubt.

SPEAKER_05 20:04

So was that harder than the I just remember you telling your mom, telling me how difficult physically it was to do the things they were asking you to do? Did you is that harder than just getting in the wheelchair? But you know, you're laying there, you're kind of like, This sucks. Okay, I gotta get in the wheelchair, and just lift in yourself. But was that mentally and physically more difficult, or was this training more difficult?

SPEAKER_02 20:35

You like you see the classes on the internet, and you're like, Man, that's an awesome program. Like, I want to be a part of that. But when you're there and you gotta wake up and you know you're gonna get your butt kicked three days a week. But it there you get so much out of it, it's incredible.

SPEAKER_05 20:56

So, did you were you living like in a dorm? Because I know you had to go to Dallas for those 10 weeks, or did you stay with a friend and just report every day?

SPEAKER_02 21:05

Yeah, I was super fortunate. My best friend CJ, he actually lives 35 minutes from there, so I got to stay with him for 10 weeks.

SPEAKER_05 21:14

Um were you driving at the time, or did he have to take it? Yeah. So you already driving one leg. You're always supposed to drive with one leg anyway. That's awesome, and I love that Karmer is still good friends with all those people.

SPEAKER_02 21:34

Yeah, still talk to a ton of those people, and I love watching the new classes go through, and I can't wait till I get to go back to Texas and just visit. And I would like to one day maybe help.

SPEAKER_05 21:48

Be a coach. Do they have coaches at home?

SPEAKER_02 21:51

Yeah, if I can get the time, go down there for 10 weeks and help train an athlete or something would be really cool. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 21:57

Well, and maybe you you know, I remember again that it was very difficult for you to get into, so it'd be nice to have that for other people. So maybe you can start the the Nashville or the Peace Tree City branch. We know you're never coming back, but uh, we can hope. Uh you're in California now though, right?

SPEAKER_02 22:15

Yeah, we're we're I'm in still at the moment and we're gonna fly back. The fifth, and Paris is taking an extension for her speech therapy out there. She's working with the school district that we live near. And uh I'm gonna attempt to be a substitute teacher.

SPEAKER_05 22:37

Oh, they're gonna be scared to death of you. You're gonna just go pull that leg up and be quiet, slam it on the desk.

SPEAKER_02 22:49

I think I'm gonna try to uh get my training certification while I'm out there too. It would be awesome.

SPEAKER_05 22:55

So does she correct your speech when you're like just talking on the phone and watching me?

SPEAKER_04 23:02

Hardest thing she's ever found.

SPEAKER_05 23:06

Oh, that's fine. Well, I'll tell a quick story about my uncle lost his leg in a motorcycle accident when he was. I don't remember how old he was, but he always tells a story. He's a big hunter, and he was climbing the deer stand to get in the tree. And it it came off his hip, I guess, somehow. But he was wearing jeans, so it was it was hung, his pant leg was hung on the ladder. So he was stuck because now he's got one leg and he's on a ladder, and this is hung up. He said he turned the shotgun down and bam! Blew it off. He's like, he didn't have a choice because he was like he was stuck. He was it was hung up, he couldn't move his leg. And my uncle's kind of crazy anyway. He's he's a little wild anyway. But that's that's one of my favorite stories from Uncle Hugh. So carry a shotgun with you in case it gets hung up on something, you can blow it off. I know, yeah. Well, he was a veteran, so I don't know if he got it through the VA or he just didn't go. I don't know. He had a couple because I remember I used to see him laying around and watching him hop around. And uh it was kind of funny. I don't know. So what does it look like now? What does training look like? You went through this hard thing, are you still lifting weights and doing crazy box jumps and towing cars with your uh what does that look like today?

SPEAKER_02 24:34

Your typical, I mean, leg workout, warm up, do a lot of banded warmups. I I warm up and stretch a lot more, and I don't know if that's because I lost a leg or I'm just getting older, but that is a far more important part of training than any.

SPEAKER_05 24:51

Warm up is 20 minutes of the 40-minute workout for sure. For me, it's 20 of the 25-minute workout now. Um, how how long ago was the accident? Was it a year and a half ago? Has it been two years?

SPEAKER_03 25:11

Like 18 months, maybe.

SPEAKER_05 25:13

Okay. All right, so what about running? Are you trying you well, you didn't run before, but are you able to run? Do you uh like how quick do you get to that point where you're in the Olympics? Because I'm ready. I want a gold medal.

SPEAKER_02 25:32

Running is pretty difficult.

SPEAKER_04 25:34

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 25:35

Um, I can I can like do kind of a jog, but it's painful. But I just like two weeks ago I played in the lacrosse tournament for the first time. And I ended up scoring a goal the fourth game, which was super cool, and it was assisted by Max.

SPEAKER_05 25:53

Are you serious? Was it one of them charity, like what's that what you know, where they let the kid like run down the field, they're like, don't tackle Jay.

SPEAKER_02 26:08

But it it wasn't, yeah. It was it was super fun. Yeah, but definitely like for the past week after that trying to run, because I pretty much played half of each game, so pretty much two full games total of playtime. And pretty much the whole next week. I mean, my leg was very sensitive, and it was tough to walk for sure.

SPEAKER_05 26:33

So, do you still have the is it called the phantom, or like where you actually can fill your toes, or does that go away?

SPEAKER_02 26:38

So, interesting enough, I'm trying to get a new leg through this MPT Blade Runner Foundation. And I went and visited with them last week in Nashville, and they actually have me on a desensitization plan for my leg, which this is the first time I've ever really heard about that, and I've been dealing with it for a year and a half. So they actually had me put on liner over my leg and then literally just hit the bottom of my leg. Hit it hard.

SPEAKER_05 27:14

Like you're trying to kill the nerves? Like with a paddle?

SPEAKER_02 27:17

Yeah, they said get up to about a six or seven pain level and ride that out for five minutes and do that three times a day.

SPEAKER_05 27:25

Does Paris like doing that? Paris like, I'll I I got it. I got it.

SPEAKER_02 27:31

And and so I'm supposed to do, I'm supposed to hit it like slap it for like a week and then move up to one rolled up magazine and then two rolled up magazines and then three.

SPEAKER_05 27:44

Oh, so what are you hitting it with now? Just your hand?

SPEAKER_03 27:46

Yeah, just my hand.

SPEAKER_05 27:47

Okay, I thought you were using like a ping pong pile or something. Like, damn, y'all are sadistic. I know. Are you guaranteed? Like, you're doing all this, are you guaranteed a leg at the end? They're like, if you don't get to attend, sorry, you're not gonna get it.

SPEAKER_02 28:07

But I I know I'm sure a lot of people apply. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 28:11

That's awesome. Well, let's go back to let's go back to Miss Paris. So we know what all she did for you. She was there, she stayed. Was there ever a moment where you pushed her away that you thought I I you know? I don't know. I I would I would think there's a part of me that would yeah, I I would god, I would hope that I would have the attitude that you have. Yeah, but I would think realistically I'd have more I just want to be alone because I don't want to have to worry about you worrying about me. And you I don't want you to have less of a life because of you know me. Was there ever a time you tried to push her away? And if so, how did you for sure?

SPEAKER_02 28:54

I was just like, hey, like I know like when to get the ring, but like now if you want to leave, like that's good, and yeah, yeah, and like at definitely at times I feel guilt that I'm not working, but I also know I'm going through something, but like it's definitely time to find something and help out.

SPEAKER_05 29:21

And that that's that I think that's built into us as men and providers. I don't have any wisdom other than I think anybody would say that you you're doing everything. Yeah, you know, it's not like you're if you were laying on the couch with a pint of vodka, you know, maybe you should feel bad. But you're out there trying to get stronger and bigger, and you know, it's uh everything you've done is at such a faster pace than I would ever have imagined.

SPEAKER_02 29:50

So yeah, and forget that I'm probably more capable than half the people working anyway.

SPEAKER_05 29:57

Yeah. Definitely. You're you got a college degree, you're an athlete. There's so many things that you can and will do that are gonna be incredible. And once you win two gold medals, you're gonna have sponsorships and like everything. It's gonna be incredible. It's gonna be awesome. So, what does a bad day look like?

SPEAKER_02 30:18

Well, I mean, this I don't call it an eye walk. I don't know if you know what an eye walk is.

SPEAKER_05 30:24

I know what an IROC Z28 is.

SPEAKER_02 30:29

It's like a knee crutch, so it you rest your knee in this L-shaped spot, and then it's like pretty much like a it looks definitely like a peg leg.

SPEAKER_05 30:40

Oh, all right. Yeah, and so you kind of look like the pirate on Dodgeball. You've seen Dodgeball. Have you seen that movie? Okay, you know the pirate once he got cleaned up and cut his hair? My God, that's that's your Halloween costume for directory along there. So, what does that do? You're saying that causes you to have a bad day, or that's what you do to because you're in pain, so you use that?

SPEAKER_02 31:09

Yeah, if my prosthetic is causing me too much pain, I'll use that eye walk. And then it it puts all the pressure on the bottom of my knee, which is not a problem, and then lets my lets my stump rest or whatever.

SPEAKER_05 31:23

So any any mental bad days, any PTSD, and I'm not a therapist, I'm not gonna fix you. You can answer that any way you want. Is that is that an issue with I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 31:35

I would I'd imagine it would be, but yeah, I'm more like, man, like I I need to find I don't have the biggest desire to go back into construction, but I I feel like I'm gonna have to just to get started.

SPEAKER_03 31:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 31:50

Um but yeah, it it that's more of the battle than yeah really like a physical bad day.

SPEAKER_05 31:57

And not the not the best economy, not that the economy is horrible, but I know there's not tons of of hiring right now, you know, unless you're a robot, then you just need to figure out how to do AI. So what uh what about the label of inspiration? I saw that question. I thought that was good. Did you embrace that, or does that like drive you crazy when because I know I'm I am all inspired when I see you doing box jumps and my little butt can't even do step ups because my knees ache. So I mean, is that is that a good label, or is that like, come on, I'm just doing what I do?

SPEAKER_02 32:37

Fine, like I don't think I really think about it like a lot. Like, I don't think it's me as an inspiration, but I'm also like I'm always on looking on the internet on my Instagram or YouTube or whatever, and watching these other adaptive athletes, like, yeah, they're cool, they're doing all this stuff. Yeah, and I I think of them as an inspiration. I mean, that when I was in the hospital and knew I was getting going to for an amputation, like I mean, that was the first thing I looked up was athletes with a below the knee amputation and just started following people. And ultimately that's how I found out about ATF.

SPEAKER_05 33:18

Yeah, so well, the first thing I looked up when I found out you were getting your knee on today were bunny socks, and there's a lot a lot of humor still in there. So, last question, what man, you just you seem so positive still and all the time on yeah, you know, throughout this process, but is there anything you'd go back and say, maybe somebody ends up watching this somehow and they're in the hospital bed? What would you say to Jake 17 months ago that was one month in, either in the hospital or laying in the bed right after the amputation? Is there anything you'd go back and tell them that would have might have helped you get through the last 18 months?

SPEAKER_02 34:06

Say just don't like don't be a recluse and like stay in, like when you're out and about and you see someone else that's an amputee, go talk to them, join, join groups. I mean, all the knowledge that I've gotten about it is from whether it's friends that know somebody with an amputee friend or some uh from a group that I joined or ATF where I'm with all these other athletes that all have disabilities and different coping methods, and I mean almost none of the knowledge is from the internet. It's so hard to find anything on the internet about being an amputee that is good information.

SPEAKER_05 34:56

Yeah, that's awesome. Well, I'm I'm proud of you. I know your mom is, and I know Paris has to be, and you know, I know we thank both of them for their support, and I yeah, I appreciate you coming on and and talking about it because I didn't know if this was easy to talk about or not, but you always have such a great attitude. I figured I'm gonna give it a shot and see if you come on here and smile and laugh with me. So thank you. So awesome. All right, well, I can't wait to see you maybe Christmas or Thanksgiving. Are you coming back?

SPEAKER_02 35:27

Yeah, well, our plan we're enjoying it out there right now, but the the plan is to get back over here. Hopefully, this is uh the last six months over there.

SPEAKER_05 35:42

We welcome you back. So thank you for joining me. I appreciate it very much.

SPEAKER_04 35:46

Yes, thank you. Have a great day.