Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Columbia County Firefighter Doesn't Let Disability Get In The Way Of His Dream

He lost his leg in a train accident nearly 14 years ago but that hasn't stopped one Martinez-Columbia Fire Rescue firefighter from fulfilling his dreams.

"I thank God almost every day that I'm still here and I'm able to do what I do today," said Martinez-Columbia Fire Rescue and EMT David Pouler.

It's something that runs in Pouler's family.

"Growing up I knew my uncle was a firefighter, my grandfather was a firefighter," said Pouler.

Now he's carrying on the family tradition.

But getting here hasn't been easy.

It was at the railroad tracks that run through Grovetown where David's life was changed. In April of 1996, David was rushing to get to school when he tripped and fell on the tracks. Unfortunately a train came, hitting David and taking part of his leg."

"In a blink of an eye I was just laying on the ground and didn't even know what happened until I couldn't move and I looked back and it was completely severed," said Pouler.

In an interview right after his accident, his parents talked about David's strength.

"He's like more stronger than we are dealing with what's going on. I think a lot hasn't sunken in yet but he hasn't gotten angry," said his parents in 1996.

Not angry...but determined to do whatever he sets his mind to.

"You got to keep the mindset that if you want to do something, it's going to take a lot but you can do it," said Pouler.

David's been through all the training with no special treatment, just the support from his fellow firefighters.

He says his only concern during training was climbing a ladder, which he showed 26 News is not a problem.

With the help of Augusta Prosthetics, he has a special prosthetic limb built into his boot which allows him to suit up just as fast as any other firefighter.

"If we get a call, I just hit this button here, it clicks out and I have a pin here that locks on this leg. You hear a click and ready to go," demonstrated Pouler.

Ready to go and do what he loves; fighting fires and saving lives.

There's another hero to this story.

David gives credit to former Grovetown police officer Jason Little who found him that day in 1996 and put his first aid skills to use in order to stop the bleeding from David's leg.

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