HOLLYWOOD, Fla. – A South Florida man who had both his legs amputated following a fiery car crash talks about the recovery some may face following the twin bombings at the Boston Marathon.
Justin Tait had both his legs amputated from the knee down when he was 19 years old.
"You don't know what to expect," he said. "Everything is totally new. I wasn't going to be able to do anything again. [I] wasn't going to walk, run, play basketball. I thought my life was over as I knew it."
Tait, now 35, learned to walk again. He said he went through six months of rehabilitation before trying to use his first prosthetic legs.
His skin was also badly burned in the crash, and Tait said being emotionally and physically strong is vital.
"I think a lot of people don't know what's inside of them until they are faced with a traumatic situation like this," he said. "I personally felt the same way. I was devastated but you take it one step at a time and overcome and persevere."
Tait uses layers of cloth and a gel sleeves to protect his residual limbs.
"It's a process, a real journey," he said. You find out that life has changed but it is not necessarily over."
Tait returned to school and became a physical therapist after the crash. He now works at the Rehabilitation Institute of South Florida and is also engaged.