INSPIRING COMEBACK (UPDATE) - Laughlin lieutenant returns to pilot training after losing leg

  • Published
  • By Joel Langton
  • 47th Flying Training Wing public affairs
LAUGHLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Texas (AETCNS) --  After having his right leg amputated following a Sept. 6, 2009, boating mishap, 1st Lt. Ryan McGuire returned to pilot training at the 47th Flying Training Wing here in November.

Torch featured the lieutenant on the cover of its May/June 2010 issue. Since the accident, he has completed rehabilitation using his prosthetics and was cleared by
a medical board to continue the pilot career that was interrupted by the mishap.

Only seven months after receiving the below-the-knee amputation, McGuire pushed himself to compete in the inaugural Warrior Games at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo., where he earned a gold medal in the 50-meter backstroke, a bronze in the 100-meter freestyle swim and fourth in the 1,500-meter run.

Then in September, he completed the grueling Air Force Marathon at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. These amazing feats less than a year after losing his leg earned him the Air Education and Training Command Male Athlete of the Year honors for 2010.

McGuire's injury occurred at Lake Amistad, near Laughlin, during the 2009 Labor Day weekend after getting a four-man tube tow rope tangled around his leg. The tube and rope yanked him from a boat while jetting across the lake at 40 mph. He dislocated his hip, fractured his pelvis and mangled his right foot, which had to be removed a month later at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio.

Since July, McGuire has been back on duty at Laughlin, but not in pilot training.

"When I first lost my leg, I never dreamed this day would come," McGuire said of his return to the cockpit. "But leadership here has supported me every step of the way, and honestly, they're the ones who gave me this dream to come back."

Col. Michael Frankel, commander of the 47th FTW, said it was a no-brainer to back McGuire in his efforts.

"When I first met Lieutenant McGuire, it was obvious that this young man is something special," Frankel said. "He has always had a positive attitude. I've never seen him down, never see him upset, he's always been pressing forward trying to achieve his goals. I look forward to the day when he graduates from pilot training, and I can hand him a set of silver wings."