DENVER (KMGH/CNN) - An Aurora theater shooting survivor who made the decision to amputate his leg after years of excruciating pain is now taking his first steps toward recovery.
Joshua Nowlan walked for the first time in a long time.
"Last night, I couldn't sleep whatsoever," Nowlan said. "I was so excited that today finally has come that I can put my prosthetic on for the first time."
They say it's been a marathon not a sprint.
"More like an ultra marathon because the finish line is so far away," Nowlan said.
This was the day Nowlan had been looking forward to for nearly five months.
Nowlan took his first step wearing the prosthetic leg and seethed in pain.
"It seems so weird staring at my real foot and the fake foot," Nowlan said.
His journey began in 2012. Nowlan was hit in the arm and the leg during the shooting while trying to protect others.
For years he faced an impossible choice, live in excruciating pain or amputate his leg.
In January, he went under the knife and after that there were major complications.
Nowlan suffered from kidney failure, a hematoma and a serious fall.
He said he feels like he’s made the right decision.
"Yes, I am still completely 100 percent on the side that I am happy that I did the amputation surgery," Nowlan said.
Nowlan began to cry but does walk.
"It feels so weird, but it feels so right too at the same time," he said.
Zach Harvey made Nowlan’s prosthetic and said eventually he'll be walking without any assistance, but he’ll be using a different leg.
"Right now, we want something a little softer, but as he starts to tolerate pressure, walk faster, wants to do more activities, then we’ll provide him with something a little springier," said Harvey of Creative Technology Prosthetics.
But he has a long way to go.
"Oh my God. I feel like I'm running a marathon," Nowlan said walking up stairs.
A battle won and a reminder of how far he has come.
"Even though it happened five years ago," Nowlan said. "He took something from me that will never be put back together. Here I am trying to makeshift those puzzle pieces and put them back in. The smallest things that we take for granted is the biggest joy in my life."
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