VIDEO – Double Amputee Veteran Becomes Police Officer: ‘Don’t Give Up’

A veteran who lost both legs in 2007 during a roadside bombing in Iraq recently became a police officer in Fort Worth, Texas.

Thirty-five-year-old Zach Briseno stood among 24 other graduates of Class 148 at the ceremony on Friday after passing the same physically demanding tests as his fellow officers, according to NBC 5.

“I’ve wanted to be a police officer since I was a kid,” said the veteran, who wears prosthetic legs.

However, Briseno first became a United States Marine and during his second tour in Iraq, his Humvee struck a roadside bomb.

When it happened, the veteran thought he was going to die so he told his fellow servicemen to take a message back to his then two-year-old son.

“I just remember telling them, ‘Hey, tell my son I love him,’ because he was the only child I had,” said Briseno, who was later awarded the Purple Heart by former President George W. Bush.

Once Briseno adjusted to life wearing prosthetic legs, he began working toward his dream of becoming a policeman.

“That part of people saying it’s a disability, that’s all in your mind,” the veteran explained. “You’re psyching yourself out at that point if you say, ‘I have this problem.’ No. How bad do you want it? How hard do you want to work for it?”

During his time at the academy, Briseno also contracted the coronavirus. However, he recovered after ten days in the hospital and returned to training.

At the graduation ceremony, the now father of four was honored as the most dedicated and determined recruit and also received the “most respected” award from his fellow class members.

Briseno, who is reportedly the second double amputee in the nation to become a full time police officer, had a special message for others working toward their goals.