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Officer Michael Braxton Jr. with the Atlantic City Police Department threw out the first pitch at the Philadelphia Phillies game against the Washington Nationals on Saturday, Aug. 17. He patrols Atlantic City with his K9 partner Ryker.
Braxton's lower left leg was amputated after an off-duty motorcycle crash in 2013 and he recovered enough to return to the police force.
"If you take me back to the day I lost my leg, I wouldn't have even imagined that I'd be here right now," he said during an in-game interview with Ashlyn Sullivan of NBC Sports Philadelphia. "This is the opportunity of a lifetime — a dream come true."
With his prosthetic left leg, Braxton stepped on the same mound at Citizens Bank Park used by Phillies aces Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola. The officer threw the ball to the Phillie Phanatic and hugged the iconic mascot.
He was also representing the Challenged Athletes Foundation, a nonprofit where he's a mentor.
"The Challenged Athletes Foundation does so much for people like me, people with disabilities," he said to NBC Sports Philly. "They provide grants. They provide expensive sports equipment so that I could compete when I was competing and I still do 5Ks.
"They also provide a community for all of us people with disabilities to get together. There's nothing like it."
Braxton won several medals as a Paralympic track and field athlete. He qualified for the trials for the 2016 Paralympics, according to Atlantic Cape Community College.
Braxton was also named to FrontRunnerNewJersey.com's list of "30 Under 40 Top Young African American Leaders of South Jersey" back in February. He also rode his bicycle with his fellow Atlantic City officers to Washington, D.C., in May for a candlelight vigil at the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial.
The Phillies defeated the Nationals 5-1.
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