Deputies dive deep to recover man’s prosthetic leg from lake bottom

OAKLAND COUNTY, Mich. (Gray News) – Deputies with a Michigan sheriff’s office carried out an unusual rescue mission last week when they recovered a man’s prosthetic leg from a lake bottom.

The Oakland County Sheriff’s Office made a Facebook post detailing the recovery efforts made by its dive team.

The sheriff’s office said the leg belonged to Brandon Smith, who was out floating on Sunrise Lake in Milford Township with his 6-year-old son.

Smith had badly injured his leg six years before in a hunting accident and received 17 surgeries in an effort to repair it. Authorities say he had been using the prosthetic for about a month.

While on the lake, Smith’s son jumped from the raft and his $80,000 prosthetic was separated from him, plunging nearly 50 feet to the bottom of the lake.

Smith’s attempts to get his leg back on his own were unsuccessful.

Smith’s father-in-law then contacted the sheriff’s office for help and was met with Sgt. Brian Burwell, who heads the dive team.

Using information provided by the family, the dive team located the approximate area of the lake where the leg was lost. After spending about 10 minutes diving for it, the sheriff’s office says deputy Justin Wiegand found the missing leg in surprisingly good shape and returned it to the family.

After being reunited with his leg, Smith and his family praised the dive team for their efforts.

The sheriff’s office also praised the dive team’s efforts in the Facebook post.

“Not everything is life-saving missing or a recovery incident, it is also helping with their quality of life,” it said.

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