Leon Ford Was Told He’d Never Walk Again After Being Shot 5 Times by Police – Watch What Happens Next
Today’s moment of triumph comes courtesy of Leon Ford. The victim of police brutality was shot five times in 2012 by Pittsburgh police after being pulled over for a minor traffic violation. The narrative plays similarly to most stories of police brutality and somehow despite there being no issues, warrants for his arrest, or any probable cause to draw a weapon on Ford, he ended up shot twenty minutes later.
Ford recalled his experience to Vice a couple of years back: “I remember the officers screaming, yelling, ‘Where’s the guns, where’s the drugs?’ They pulled me out and slammed me on the ground and handcuffed me face down. I thought they tased me until blood was coming out my mouth and from under me. I was like, Wow, they shot me… I thought I was going to die.”
It is a story of survival, but also of perseverance. He was shot five times, but could live to tell his own story, a fate that nowadays seems so different for most black men that encounter similar situations but with a more fatal ending. “Unlike Tamir Rice, Oscar Grant, Ezell Ford, Mike Brown, and many other victims of police misconduct, I survived to tell my story,” Ford said.
Five bullets couldn’t keep him down. Even if it led to him with a diagnosis from doctors that he would never be able to walk again. And despite his wheelchair, Ford hasn’t allowed anything to deter him from his purpose. These days, he doubles as a writer and an activist.
What’s even better is that the survivor showed the world that nothing is impossible and that sometimes doctors can be wrong. Five years later, Leon Ford has shown the world that he is doing what they said he’d never be able to: walking again.
In a tweet that has since gone viral, he shared a video of him taking steps while his son cheered him on in the background. The caption read, “When you get shot by a police officer 5 times—and docs say that you will [n]ever walk but your son says keep pushing. Untold 11-11-17.”
When you get shot by a police officer 5 times-and docs say that you will ever walk but your son says keep pushing Untold 11•11•17 pic.twitter.com/DPuTcp6i3g
— Leon Ford (@LeonFordSpeaks) August 20, 2017
His feat is a moment of triumph and one of much-needed inspiration that you must always be moving forward. Ford’s book Untold, a testimony and guide to overcoming adversity, is slated to be released November 11, 2017 and can be pre-ordered now.
Photo Credit: Leon Ford/ Twitter
