Dive team recovers Michigan man’s $80K prosthetic leg from bottom of lake

MILFORD TOWNSHIP, Mich. — Deputies in Michigan saved the day for a man whose $80,000 prosthetic leg sank to the bottom of a lake on Wednesday.

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According to a news release from the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office, on Sunday, Brandon Smith and his 6-year-old son were floating on a raft in Sunrise Lake, located in Milford Township.

When Stone Christopher jumped off the raft, Smith’s prosthetic leg, which he had for only about a month, came loose and sank to the bottom of the lake, WILX-TV reported.

“He tried but he just couldn’t get it,” Smith’s father-in-law, Tim McIntosh, told the sheriff’s office.

The family called the sheriff’s office, and on Monday a diving team used GPS coordinates to find the general location of the prosthesis. Within 10 minutes on Wednesday, Deputy Justin Wiegand was able to locate and recover the prosthesis in good condition, according to WDIV-TV.

McIntosh told the television station that Smith had fallen from a tree six years ago while hunting. He had 17 surgeries before finally receiving the prosthetic leg. He said the sheriff’s office “had come to the rescue.”

“They were so professional,” McIntosh said in a statement. “They were so good. It was a wonderful experience.”

“Our dive team does an amazing job in a variety of conditions and circumstances,” Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard said in the release. “In this incident, they were able to make a big quality of life difference for this gentleman who obviously would be greatly negatively impacted by the loss of his prosthetic leg. I’m proud of their work every day and especially in this circumstance.”

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