Divers Find Man's $80,000 Prosthetic Leg In Michigan Lake

Oakland County divers saved a man's $80,000 prosthetic leg yesterday (July 13) after it fell off and plunged 48 feet below the surface of a Michigan lake, according to Click on Detroit.

Brandon Smith, his 6-year-old son and his father-in-law went floating Sunday (July 10) on Sunrise Lake in Milford Township. Smith's son, Stone Christopher, jumped off their raft and into the lake, somehow detaching his father's prosthetic leg and sending it to the bottom of the body of water. “He tried, but he just couldn’t get it,” Tim McIntosh, Smith’s father-in-law, said.

Smith had only received the prosthetic leg about a month ago. He had undergone 17 surgeries to repair his leg after falling out of a tree six years ago while hunting.

The family called Oakland County Sheriff's Office and asked for help retrieving the leg. Members of the dive team met with Smith on Monday (July 11) and used GPS to pinpoint where to search. Then on Wednesday, they struck gold. After less than 10 minutes, the Deputy Justin Wiegand recovered the prosthetic leg from 48 feet down. It was in “surprisingly good condition.”

“Our dive team does an amazing job in a variety of conditions and circumstances,” Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard said. “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.”