Long Beach FD Divers Find, Return Missing Prosthetic Leg To Paralympian
LONG BEACH (CBSLA) — Long Beach Fire Department lifeguard divers Tuesday returned a lost prosthetic leg to its owner, Paralympian Dewalt Mix.
According to the department, the United States Paralympic Team member lost his prosthetic leg Sunday while swimming in the area of Island White. With only two hours of sunlight left, fire department divers began searching the water, but were unable to locate the prosthetic before night fell.
The search continued Monday with assistance from the Long Beach Police Department, but extremely poor visibility and deep water foiled the search for the black carbon fiber prosthetic in the silty bottom conditions, the department said.
On Tuesday, fire department divers were able to find the prosthetic leg after receiving new information and coordinates to search and were able to return the leg to Mix.
"The athlete is extremely appreciative, and remarked that we saved the Tokyo Olympics for him, where he is scheduled to compete in the javelin representing the United States in 2021," the department said in an email.