Prosthetic Leg Lost In Keystone Lake For 6 Months Is Found, Returned To Owner

A man who lost his prosthetic leg in Keystone Lake has it back after it was lost for six months. Some people spotted the leg that washed up on shore and worked hard to figure out whose prosthetic it was. 

The leg's owner, Shawn Igert, said the return of his missing leg is life-changing.

When Igert’s kayak capsized at Keystone Lake, he could only watch as his prosthetic leg floated further and further away. Igert was stuck in the water for three hours before he was rescued by passing boaters.

He said his biggest concern was just surviving in the water.

"You know, my leg was the least of my worries," he said. Igert has a neurological disorder that forced him to get his left leg amputated two years ago, but he's never let that stop him.

"I want to get up and get around," he said. "You know, when I lost that prosthetic leg, my life completely changed.”

Around the time he lost his leg, Igert said he lost his job and his insurance, so he couldn't buy a new leg.

“So I had no insurance, no way to buy another leg. Those things are anywhere from six to $20,000," Igert said. "I don’t have that money because what money I had saved up I’ve lived off of you know trying to get another job. And when you’re an amputee and you look like what I’ve got here, nobody wants to hire you. Especially doing heat and air and that’s what I do."

Since then, Igert's been back to life without his leg and forced to use a painful backup. On Saturday, Igert said his luck turned for the better.

Brandy Charles saw a Facebook post of a leg washed ashore and boated out with her husband to recover it.

"I couldn’t see what it was. I thought it was like a snake on rocks and I zoomed it in and I was like, ‘Hey that’s my leg!’” Igert said.

Charles returned it to Igert on Sunday.

"I cannot tell you how emotional it was ... just seeing the joy and thankfulness," Charles said. "It took a whole team of people to get it. It wasn’t just me, I physically got the leg but it was everybody pitching in to find the owner.”

Igert said three to four prosthetic limbs are lost to Keystone Lake each year. He hopes the next time someone sees one washed ashore, they help out just like Charles did.

“I hope when people run by and they see one, not just to laugh at it but get out and help somebody," Igert said. "Because they don’t realize they could be without a job no insurance, no way to replace that leg. You know and so they gave me my life back."