(WSVN) - Miami-Dade Police Maj. Ricky Carter lost both of his legs in a motorcycle accident. His road to recovery has been challenging. He spent decades serving the community, and now he needs the community’s help. Rosh Lowe has his emotional story in The Lowedown.
Miami-Dade Police Maj. Ricky Carter, injured officer: “I thank God that I’m still alive.”
Maj. Ricky Carter remembers waking up in a hospital bed.
Maj. Ricky Carter: “Yes, I was unconscious for four days before I was able to come back.”
Rosh Lowe: “And you wake up and you discover you have no legs?”
Maj. Ricky Carter: “Yes, that was very tough.”
His life changed forever after a motorcycle accident on Interstate 75 in early May.
Maj. Ricky Carter: “That’s a highway that I drive so regularly. You know, a turn, a curb that I’m used to, that familiar with. I’m traveling at very slow speeds. What are the odds? I don’t know why this happened.”
Carter lost control of the motorcycle. He was on his way to a charity event to benefit children of fallen officers. Now his own daughter is watching her dad fight for his life.
Jennifer Carter, daughter: “It was just hard, like, seeing your dad, who’s always so strong and always helping everybody in the community, to be laying there with tubes out of his mouth, and he doesn’t know what’s going on.”
Everything has changed for Maj. Carter. In fact, he is staying in a hotel because his house has to be retrofitted for his wheelchair. He spends about two hours a day in this hotel gym working and fighting so he can get back to the Miami-Dade Police Department.
Rosh Lowe: “Monday, when you return to work, what’s that going to be like?”
Maj. Ricky Carter: “It’s going to be amazing, because it’s long overdue.”
Carter has fought all the way back. Bright and early Monday morning, he will report to headquarters. It hasn’t been easy.
Rosh Lowe: “Have you ever said to yourself, ‘Why did this happen to me? Why am I going through this?'”
Maj. Ricky Carter: “Every day. There isn’t a day I don’t want to ask myself or some of my friends, ‘Why did this happen to me? Why was I chosen?'”
Maj. Carter has spent two decades serving his community. Now he needs his community to help him.
Maj. Ricky Carter: “I do need some help, so I can get back out, so I can service the community like I did before.”
His recovery is expensive, and so are prosthetic legs he’ll soon get. His daughter Jennifer knows he’s up to the challenge.
Jennifer Carter: “You are so strong, and you never let anything hold you back or hold you down.”
Sometimes it’s not so easy to be strong.
Maj. Ricky Carter: “They give me these wristbands that say ‘Ricky Strong,’ and I’m trying so hard to be strong.”
His wife and daughter see his strength every day.
Rosh Lowe: “Why do you believe you were chosen?”
Maj. Ricky Carter: “I don’t know, but I see it as an opportunity to do more things, to do bigger and better things.”
If you would like to help Maj. Carter and his family, go to https://www.gofundme.com/assistance-for-major-ricky-carter.
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