One San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Deputy veteran decided to inspire people with amputated limbs after he, himself, lost his leg because of an artery disease.
Bill Nessel, 75, was with the sheriff’s department for 23 years and survived nine surgeries before his right leg was amputated. Now, he hosts the Amputee Connection of Redlands to bring a sense of community to other Southern California members with amputated limbs.
The support group’s mission focuses on improving the physical, emotional and mental well-being of people with limb loss and deficiency through peer counseling. It also welcomes people who may be having surgery in the future.
Nessel's path to acceptance was not an easy one, as he had to overcome new obstacles he faced after his artery disease.
"I was lost. I didn't know where to go or what to do or how things were going to happen," he said.
The former sheriff’s deputy sought comfort from other support groups, but he did not like their mindsets and focus on what he was not able to do anymore.
Instead, he and his friends crated Amputee Connection of Redlands, where attitude it everything.
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"Positive attitude and physical therapy will get you to as close to 100 percent as you are going to get," Nessel tells the group.
Since the creation of ACR, various people have said their attitudes have been upbeat and that they felt a source of support.
"He gave me the opportunity to change the way I was thinking in the beginning because I was having really bad thoughts," ACR member Luis Ovando said.
The simplest things for some people, like wearing a pair of shorts, were unthinkable for Ovando before he was a part of the group.
"I met a lot of amputees who wear shorts and are proud of their prosthesis and I said, ‘Why not go for it," Ovando said.
Since then, he was adopted a "can do" attitude and bikes as his favorite form of exercise. Ovando has even participated in the Tour de Palm Springs.
Brenda Maroney, who is also a member of ACR, has learned to surf and found her passion in dancing the tango.
"I have to do it differently, of course, but to say, 'Yes, I can do these things,' and a new amputee goes 'What? I thought my life was over? How could I live? That's what this group does," she said about ACR’s success in restoring faith in its members.
Jim Von Norman, who was injured in a motorcycle accident, travels more than 100 miles from Ventura to San Bernardino County to participate in the meetings.
"It's worth it for me because what has come of that has been phenomenal,"Van Norman said. "It's the example that Bill sets: The way he is able to do all the things he did before."
The Amputee Connection of Redlands welcomes all prospective new members and meets every third Sunday of the month at 2 p.m. at the Redlands Community Hospital.
