San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Sergeant Mark Addy had his leg amputated after an off-duty traffic collision in 2021. He says he never doubted that not only would he recover, but also would someday go back to work. After 14 months and 13 days, Addy returned to full duty in December.
“Of course, the initial thought is what is going to happen, but honestly, it never fazed me. I kind of looked at it as a new challenge,” Addy, 42, said in a recent interview with the San Bernardino Sun.
Addy sees a reminder that he has met the challenge every morning during the 20-minute process to affix the prosthesis below his knee using liners, lotions and lubrication. “GOOD” — the name of a podcast produced by motivational speaker Jocko Willink — is written on the titanium leg.
“No matter how bad a situation is,” Addy said, summarizing the former Navy SEAL’s message, “there’s going to be some good that comes out of it.”
Addy, who has been on the force for 21 years, oversees the station’s scheduling, daily and overtime operations, organization of public gatherings, management of state-funded grants and traffic-enforcement operations — normal duties for the position that he performs without limitation.
