Episode 788: Resilience in the Face of Adversity with Matias Ferreira - America's First Active Double-Amuptee LEO

On today's episode, Dennis speaks with Marine veteran and
America's first active double-amuptee LEO, Matias Ferreira.
Matias was born in Uruguay, and immigrated to the U.S. (Atlanta)
with his family when he was six, joining the Marines at 19. 
He took his oath to become an American citizen in September 2010,
days before he deployed to Afghanistan as a machine gunner with
the 1st Battalion, 8th Marines.


Just months into his first deployment in January 2011, Lance
Corporal Ferreira lost both legs and broke his pelvis after
stepping on an improvised explosive device (IED) in Helmand
Province, Afghanistan. Treated by a Navy Corpsman and medically
evacuated to Bagram (Afghanistan) hospital, he was flown to
Landstuhl, Germany, and then brought to Walter Reed Army Medical
Center in Bethesda, Md. There he underwent several surgeries and
aggressive therapies. Months later, he eventually learned to walk
confidently on prosthetics, advancing to running, and other
sports a short time later. He was medically retired in May
2012. Matias is now a police officer for the Suffolk County
Police Department in New York and a drill instructor at the
Suffolk County Police Academy.


Today, Matias tells his story of the events that unfolded on the
day of his incident, the recovery process, what motivated him to
become a police officer, how he overcame adversity as a
double-amputee police officer, how he became a drill instructor,
the blessings in disguise that came from his incident and the
changes they are implementing in academies to move in the right
direction to train the future officers the right way.


Follow Matias on IG: @matias_n_ferreira


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