DALLAS — Trooper Curtis Putz probably didn’t realize how much he missed the sound of a siren.
He couldn’t help but smile while sitting in a black SUV outside of a Baylor Scott & White Rehabilitation facility in Dallas in the midst of a motorcade with multiple sirens wailing.
Where he’d come from and where he was going made that smile even wider.
On Jan. 31, 2023, North Texas was iced over.
Putz, who works out of Navarro County, was at the scene of an accident on Interstate 45 when a vehicle slide into him and ran over him.
He was trapped underneath it.
It took 90 minutes on treacherous roads to get Putz to a hospital.
His injuries were so severe that his survival was not certain.
“Goodness gracious, he was very broken when he came in,” said physical therapist Bridget Denicola, who worked with him once he finally reached the rehabilitation center at Baylor Scott & White in Dallas.
But getting to rehab was a long and difficult journey.
Putz suffered breaks in his pelvis, hips ribs, hands, and legs as well as nerve damage in his leg.
He endured multiple surgeries and painful skin grafts all over his body.
Therapy just added to the pain.
“What an honor to work with someone with such a high pain threshold and who works so hard,” said Denicola.
Putz is now walking again -- with the aid of a walker.
“I feel good. I feel really good,” he said Friday morning before his discharge.
“Words cannot describe what I feel right now. I’m so happy to be going home and so thankful I’m still here today.”
He thanked Denicola and the staff who helped him recover, the surgeons who saved his life, the troopers who watched over his family for 11 weeks, and his wife and his faith -- which he said got him through.
Outside the rehabilitation center, law enforcement lined up with Baylor Scott & White employees to applaud and cheer as Putz, his wife, and three kids walked to the waiting SUV.
“It has been 81 days since the crash that took your voice off our airwaves on January 31, 2023,” said a dispatcher’s voice over the radio. “Congratulations on going home to finish your recovery with your beautiful family.”
Putz’s wife, Tosha, hugged the rehab staff before getting into the motorcade.
Then the sirens started and the family began the trek home, surrounded by the same troopers who've been by their side sinc the accident happend.
The family already has plans: church on Sunday and going fishing together as soon as Putz is up to it.
His ultimate goal is to return to work.