One-legged Virginia cop determined to excel on police force

Jet, April 22, 2002

Alexandria, VA, Police Officer Bill Lyle had his right leg amputated above the knee in September 2000 after suffering an injury chasing a drug suspect.

Seven months later, he returned to active duty on the force. As of JET press time, he'll try to regain his spot on the city's SWAT team by completing a grueling obstacle course that requires, among other things, carrying a battering ram up a flight of steps and dragging a 180-pound dummy 20 feet.

He already has outperformed some of the SWAT team members on the physical fitness portion of the test.

After he lost the leg, doctors told Lyle his career as a police officer was over. But Lyle says he never doubted that he'd return to the force.

"That doctor's wrong," Lyle told them. "He just doesn't know the God that I serve. I'm going to be a police officer again."

On Sept. 20, 2000, Lyle was patrolling a public housing project in the city just before midnight when he came upon a group using drugs and drinking. He ended up in a foot chase with one of the suspects. He did not see a thick chain stretched out in front of him, about three feet high. "When I hit the chain, I thought I hit a brick wall," Lyle said.

He landed on his back. As he lay on the ground, he saw a shadow above his face and quickly drew his gun, thinking the suspect had doubled back. Then he came to the sickening realization that the shadow he saw was not the suspect.

"It was my foot," Lyle said. "My foot was angling back toward me."

Lyle amazed his therapists during rehabilitation.

"This guy was in such good shape," said therapist Charlene Kelly. "No way could we do a traditional program. That had to be thrown out the window."

Lyle, a former Marine, would be drenched in sweat. His stub would be worn raw. They kept pushing. Even Kelly was exhausted. "I just had to keep coming up with things that were challenging," Kelly said according to the Washington Post.

Eventually she recommended that Lyle return to active duty with no restrictions. Lyle resumed work in May, and quickly earned the confidence of fellow officers.

His mother, Mary J. Davis, 60, isn't surprised by her son's positive attitude. "Everything happens for a reason. "I knew he was in God's hands ... I knew God wouldn't let him have no more than he could bear."