Thursday, October 22, 2009

Pee-Wee football player in Texas back on the field with his new prosthetic leg

From WFAA-TV in Dallas:

FORT WORTH — Nearly one year after a little boy lost part of his leg in a train accident, he's achieving what his mother once thought was impossible.

Anthony Bell (pictured) is playing football.

His mother, Montricia Johnson, said the reality of Anthony's loss only set in after all the publicity died down and he started dealing with a left leg that was amputated below the knee.

"When we got home and he was trying to do therapy and trying to learn to walk on the leg — that's when it hit him," she said.

By spring, Anthony returned to his second grade class, but not to his football team. "Not being able to go outside and play with the kids, he kind of sat in the front door and was like sad, you know?" Johnson said.

Then, in August — newly fitted with a prosthetic leg — Anthony made a decision: He wasn't sitting on the sidelines any longer.

"First he started learning how to ride his scooter; then his bike; and from then it's been on," Johnson said.

The first day of practice, Coach Floyd Douglas thought he would let Anthony set his own limits. He's still waiting for that to happen.

As it turned out, it might be the other players who deserve the concern. Anthony is tackling hard and showing no sign of backing down.

"When it came to hit, he was ready to hit and ready to go at it," Douglas said. "I just couldn't say 'no.'"

A year ago, looking down on her son in a hospital bed, Montricia Johnson prayed her son would find normalcy. Today, the family's goal is higher.

Anthony is aiming for extraordinary.