He Was Faced With A Devastating Life Change...But His Reaction Was Completely Inspiring

by N/A, 10 years ago | 2 min read

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When faced with a devestating life decision, many people become terrified, sad or sometimes angry. But when Joe was diagnosed with Pigmented villonodular synovitis (or PVNS), and learned that the best way to treat the disease was to amputate his foot, he behaved in the most stoic way possible—and helped himself, and those around him, have some fun with what would normally be a horrible situation.

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Joe's photos speak pretty loudly to the kind of guy he is. Here is him pondering an amputation by chain saw...

...or by paintball...

...or maybe by a classic hand saw.

Joe went one step further and actually got a tattoo from the Sorry Mom Tattoo Parlor to have a little fun with the medical students who would help with his operation.

Think they were able to find the right place to amputate?

While some people might have wallowed in self pity before such an event as this, Joe did the opposite. He took his new tattoo and partied with the folks at the Firefly Music Festival.

Here is Joe with the band Royal Teeth.

This is Joe goofing around with the pop duo Cherub.

Joe didn't even take pause from his USMT fandom during the World Cup while healing from his operation.

And when nurses went to get medication for him, Joe would don an outrageous fake beard and ask "What took you so long? I've been waiting here forever!"

This is Joe posing with the surgeon who performed the operation.