BACK IN ACTION: NISWONGER RETURNS TO POLICE DEPARTMENT

Gary Hurt, jailer, assisted Niswonger as he left the jail where prisoners sometimes discuss matters with Niswonger.

Kathy Payne, records clerk, and Niswonger used the fax machine.

Police Officer Dan Niswonger's motivation in the aftermath of a debilitating accident was his desire to return to work with the Cape Girardeau Police Department. His desire didn't look like it would become a reality for many weeks following the accident: His right leg was amputated and it looked, for a while, like he would lose his right arm.

But last week, after 14 months of rehabilitation, he donned the midnight blue uniform, the badge numbered 52 and reported to the traffic division inside the building at 40 S. Sprigg. His co-workers gave him a warm welcome back.

"We laughed, shook a few hands," Niswonger said, "and I even saw a few tears."

Niswonger, a 19-year veteran of the department, was critically injured April 2, 1994, while on a police motorcycle. Niswonger collided with another vehicle on North Sprigg Street while performing traffic duties during a running event and was rushed to the hospital.

Seven weeks after the accident and fighting for his life in a St. Louis hospital, doctors were forced to remove his infectious right leg.

"If I would've lost the arm, I wouldn't have been able to return," he said. "My arms are my legs now, and I need both of them.

"I thought I would be back here before now. But I guess I'm lucky just to be here at all."

Niswonger said he misses riding around Cape Girardeau on a department motorcycle, a patrol he enjoyed for 14 years. "I was really doing something I loved, and I got paid for it," he said.

For the future, he hopes to acquire a new prosthetic, something that gives him more flexibility. He said he doesn't like the current prosthetics available to him, and he has better mobility in a wheelchair.

He goes to physical therapy three times a week and hopes to return to work full time perhaps next month. He said his duties at the department, in the same division where he worked before the accident, still give him a feeling of accomplishment.

"I was afraid I was going to be stuck back in a corner somewhere and forgotten," he said, "but I wasn't. And I like what I'm doing."

Chief Howard "Butch" Boyd Jr. said knowing Niswonger's condition immediately after the accident, he didn't know if the officer would ever return to the department.

"I'm happy that he's back," Boyd said. "He's doing really well, and we have high hopes and optimism that we will be able to use him full time in the future. Right now he's handling a myriad of administrative duties."

Niswonger said although he was happy to return to the department, he deeply misses being on the street, riding a motorcycle.

"If there's a way to do it, I'd like to figure it out," he said. "My wife would love to hear that."