Like the rest of us, Jason Pollo was going about his day to day life as usual. He was working on the pipelines and operating heavy machinery, but when he wasn't working you could catch him on the golf course or playing slo-pitch. But on April 11, everything changed.

What was thought to be a harmless blood blister on his right foot turned into necrotizing fasciitis, a fast moving flesh eating bacteria . In just one night Pollo lost not just his foot, but his leg up halfway to his knee.

"On Sunday the 10th I went to sleep, I felt fine, I felt 100%. And I woke up Monday morning on the 11th feeling almost dead. And we unwrapped the foot and it was black, it was dead so they took it off that day, it was an emergency. I was raced to Calgary because of the blood blister the bacteria got in the blood too so I went septic. My organs were shutting down, I was knocking on death's door," he said.

After his immediate surgery, Pollo spent the next 74 days in the hospital recovering. While something like this would be enough to have anybody feeling incredibly upset, Pollo hasn't lost any of his lighthearted, friendly nature.

"I've never been upset about losing the foot, I've lived a pretty good life and it's honestly a shock that I didn't lose a limb earlier in my younger years when I was doing a lot of dumb things, so the whole losing the foot part was no big deal."

Not only is Pollo keeping a positive attitude about the amputation, he's even finding silver linings!

"I used to have real bad arthritis in my right ankle, I don't anymore."

Since the incident, Pollo said he has seen an incredible outpouring of support not just from his friends, but from the entire community.

"It's amazing, I knew I had my inner circle of friends, they're really tight, I knew that. But to see how widespread the support's been, it's been wild. There's really no words to describe it.. it hits in the feels pretty good. I don't get choked up and they've managed to choke me up a couple times."

Pollo's friend Nicole Gordon said Pollo's optimism is incredible.

"His outlook on this is just so amazing. I wasn't even expecting him to be quite that positive about it. The nice thing about him is he's such a jokey sarcastic person that we can all joke about it, laugh about it right now and that's what helps him get through it I think."

Even though Pollo has been incredibly positive and his friends and community is there to support him, the problem of losing a leg and needing prosthetics remains. Pollo explained that his current prosthetic cost $12 000, and he is hoping to buy another one that will be ok in water. His current prosthetic is good for his every day active life, but a prosthetic for water would cost him another $10 000 -$12 000.

Pollo explained that Alberta Health Care does help with some costs but there is still a lot that he needs to come up with, Pollo has been out of work since the surgery and is not expected to be back until later this fall. 

To help with the costs, Gordon is organizing a fundraiser. She explained that it will be on September 10 at the Livestock Pavilion at the Ag Ground, and the event will be a dance-cabaret type event featuring many things like a silent auction, raffles, 50/50 tickets and food. Pollo himself hopes to be present, and is looking forward to it.

"It's gonna be a hell of a party"

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