Zack Collier:

Clinical psychologists talk about how easy it is for amputees to feel sorry for themselves, to let the injury define them, to just give up. In fact, there are dozens, if not hundreds, of books about their struggles. Instead, there should be more books about people like Zack Collier.

High school was still a recent memory for Collier the day in June 2004 that his pant leg got caught in a hay pressing machine at a facility near Halsey, a farming community about a half-hour pickup ride from Salem and Eugene.

Before someone could shut the contraption off, it had swallowed much of the 18-year-old's lower right leg. Doctors tried to save it, but due to massive tissue damage the leg had to be amputated just below the knee—standard procedure in trying to retain the crucial knee joint.

Collier's troubles, however, were far from over. Complications—physical and psychological—soon set in. The wound would not heal properly because of "compartment syndrome," and after several pain-filled months trying to make it work, his leg was amputated above the knee.

A sudden turning point

After about a week of suffering from depression in the hospital, Collier woke up one day and decided "this isn't the way I'm going to live the rest of my life." He never looked back.

Patricia Toney, a SAIF claims adjuster who worked on the claim with Vocational Coordinator Claudia Roberts, saw something special in Collier. "He was very young, had an infant child, had a significant injury, and didn't qualify for vocational assistance because he was making minimum wage," Toney says. "The thought kept tugging at me: What can we do for this kid? How can we help him succeed in the rest of his life?"

In addition to the customary assistance, SAIF identified some optional services that it can provide in special circumstances, including an on-site analysis of the tasks and physical requirements of his job at a new company that allowed Collier to utilize the Preferred Worker Program.

"If I had any question with anything I'd call Patricia and she always had the answer for me," Collier says. "She was always looking out for me."

Meanwhile, Collier was getting physical therapy and learning to walk on his prosthetic leg. Not one to sit still for very long, he was eager to get back to work.

"Once he learned there were people and services that could help, Zack took off. He was amazing," Toney says. He used the benefits offered through the Preferred Worker Program to market himself and quickly found a job—nearly doubling his salary in the process.

His success proved to Collier that he could do anything. "Everything about it is in your head. You can do anything you want, you just have to find out how you're going to get to it," he says.

"You're never out of harm's way" Collier tells people who ask about his leg, especially young adults, to be knowledgeable about the potential dangers in their workplace and to get adequate training on the equipment they use.

"It was a lack of education about the machine I was on, basically. Now I tell people to be well-educated...and know that you're never out of harm's way. Things can happen anywhere," Collier says.

Naturally, Collier is more conscious about safety now. "Safety is the most important thing—I don't think any job is worth anyone's safety. It tears me up to think that this could happen to other people, that another 18-year-old kid could go through what I went through."

"I like to test myself"

When he lost his leg, Collier thought he might never be able to carry his child again, much less fulfill his dream of owning and operating his own hauling truck.

As a child he often rode in his dad's rig in the mountains around Coquille, but he had never actually driven one. When he purchased his own truck after the accident, he taught himself how to drive it around town with one foot. Maneuvering a fully loaded log truck down a muddy mountainside, however, is an entirely different matter.

"I never knew how much you need two feet and how on top of things you need to be," he says.

Now, three years after he lost his leg, Collier is starting his own trucking business. He plans to haul logs most of the year in the Cascades and haul asphalt for road construction during the summer. Stopping Collier, it seems, is about as easy as stopping a log truck.

"The biggest struggle I've had is getting an opportunity to show people I can do this," he says. "All anybody needs is just a chance, and it's all on them after that."

Collier is a quiet man who lets his work speak for him. But he admits that being a role model is rewarding.

"A lot of kids around here have come up to me and just say 'Zack, you don't really know me but you've been such an inspiration.' They've told me that I've shown them that whatever they want to do they can do it, it's just finding out how to get to it."