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An Upstate man learning to walk again after four amputations

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Sometimes you meet people that just put things into perspective and that is certainly the case with Jim Murray. Murray is a 34-year-old Upstate husband and father learning how to walk again– these days he’s taking it one prosthetic step at a time.

“He’s just a good person,” said Danielle Murray, wife to Jim. “I can’t pinpoint one thing that made me fall in love with him.”

From high school sweethearts to husband and wife, to parents of two boys– Jim and Danielle Murray have been together for 15 years. Back in February, Jim got sick. “Originally, I just thought it was like a bad stomach bug with just real bad chills,” Jim said.

It was more than the winter flu. “The next morning, I could just tell he felt pretty bad,” said Danielle. “I was kind of rushing out the door, so I did call his mom and just told her ‘I think you need to go check on Jim. I think he needs to go to the doctor.’” A trip to the Minute Clinic quickly turned into a trip to the emergency room. Nearly 20 years after having his spleen removed, Jim’s body couldn’t fight off a bacterial-infection and it could be deadly. “I ended up having six surgeries in six weeks,” Jim said. Losing more than just fingers, he also lost both arms and both feet. “I didn’t know I needed extra vaccinations which would have prevented this and I’ve talked to a couple other people who have lost their spleens and they had no idea either,” Jim mentioned. “There are just a couple different vaccines that you need to get per the CDC.” Jim says while the information is easily found in a google search, he had no idea. Now a quadruple amputee, Jim is learning to walk again.

“I’m really just spending that time building up those core muscles, building up my leg muscles. I lost probably over 30 pounds.”

From standing, to stepping, to one day running– Jim keeps moving forward. So does his family, everyone adapting to new circumstances, even the boys. Jim and Danielle credit their support team and all the healthcare workers at Encompass Health in Greenville who have helped them throughout this journey.

Visit WISTV to learn more, https://www.wistv.com/2023/07/18/an-upstate-man-learning-walk-again-after-four-amputations/.

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