Silke Jasso
Matias Ferreira, a United States Marine Corps veteran who lost both of his legs while serving our country, is now the first full-time double amputee police officer in New York’s Suffolk County. His hiring fulfilled his lifelong dream of becoming a police officer, something he never gave up on even after he tragically lost both of his legs after stepping on an explosive device in Afghanistan in 2011.
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“I had a really good support system that got me back into physical activities, and before you knew it I was just really trying to get myself physically prepared to join the police department,” Ferreira said. “I had a lot of my friends who were more severely injured tell me, ‘Hey you can do this man, you can do it, go ahead.'”
On Friday, his wish came true. He graduated from the Suffolk County Police Academy with his wife and daughter smiling from the audience.
“To be honest with you, I have my friends and family to thank for because when I was overseas, I lost so many of my good friends that aren’t with us today, and their families are the ones who kept me going, and my way of viewing it is that I’m trying to do this for them,” he said.
Not only is he the Suffolk County’s first double amputee to serve as a fully active police officer, but he’s also believed to be the first in the entire nation. Ferreira will begin working next week and hopes to inspire others to follow their dreams as well.
“I think that anybody with or without a disability or an amputation can do anything they put their mind up to,” he said.
Congratulations to @USMC vet Matias Ferreira! He's the first double amputee to become a full-time #SCPD officer https://t.co/PfcB9hyWAa pic.twitter.com/9OKwDTxZjC
— 1010 WINS (@1010WINS) March 24, 2017
