Stephen France spins right and then left, kicking and chopping the air in a blur of motion as he practices the karate techniques that nearly earned him a spot in the Beijing Olympics. Next, he’ll scramble up a rock climbing wall, working on his upper body strength as he prepares to audition for NBC’s American Ninja Warrior.

If he were wearing longer pants, no one would be able to guess that Stephen only has one foot. He chose to have his other foot removed after an industrial accident left it more painful than useful.

Stephen, then 25, had spent all his free time preparing to try out for the Olympics when a 2-ton press at his workplace crushed his leg in the fall of 2006.

“There was a machinery malfunction, and I was in the wrong place at the wrong time,” recalls Stephen, a Yulee resident.

The press stopped when it was on top of Stephen, pinning him for more than an hour until emergency crews were able to partially disassemble it and prop it up with air bags. Then a TraumaOne helicopter flew Stephen to UF Health Jacksonville, the only place in the region with a Level I trauma center equipped to deal with such a serious injury.

Stephen immediately went into surgery. Screws were placed in his badly damaged foot, which was broken across the top from side to side. His open calf was put back together, and a skin graft had to be applied to his knee. Over the next two months, he would undergo multiple debridements to remove dead skin from his leg. Additional skin grafts from his upper thigh replaced it.

For Stephen, an extremely active person, that was one of the toughest parts: he had to stay completely still for five days in order for the skin graft to take.

When he finally went home, Stephen still had his foot, but it locked into uncomfortable positions, he was in pain all the time and he dealt with heavy fluid buildup. He had operations trying to ease the pain in the years that followed, but nothing worked. For a while Stephen, walked with a cane. But that lifestyle didn’t suit the second-degree black belt who had been immersed in karate since he was 10.

“I was on four pain medications and still had a constant throb in my heel,” Stephen recalls. “In the martial arts, you know the mechanics of the body, and I knew what my body was telling me.”

Stephen initiated a conversation with his doctor about amputating the foot, and eventually he was referred to Dr. B. Hudson "Hud" Berrey, an orthopaedic surgeon at UF Health Jacksonville, in October 2012.

“When I met Dr. Berrey, I told him I’m a big-time karate guy who once was Olympic material, and my foot was trashed,” Stephen recalls. “I then demonstrated kicks with the damaged foot, saying, ‘I can kick with it, i just can't hit anything with it.’”

Berrey could see that Stephen was determined to have the surgery and understood what was ahead. He scheduled it for the following week.

“Once I realized it was happening the very next week, I freaked out. I actually had to take anxiety medication,” Stephen admits.

Still, he knew it was the right decision for him. Berrey, a longtime surgeon who once headed the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center Amputee Clinic and later headed the center's entire orthopaedic department, knew just what to do to help Stephen return to his athletic lifestyle.

Using the Ertl procedure, he made a “bone bridge” between the tibia and fibula in Stephen’s leg, using a small section of bone from the amputated leg to form a flat surface inside the end of the stump. It is meant to create a better “load bearing” surface as opposed to the slim ends of the amputated tibia and fibula bones. After forming the bridge, Berrey pulled skin and muscle into position so Stephen’s scar would be in the front of his leg instead of on the end of the leg. That would make wearing a prosthetic more comfortable because there would not be friction on his scar.

Just three days after his surgery, Stephen was ready to go home. His leg healed over the next few months, and then it was time to be fitted for a prosthetic. Stephen went to Advance Prosthetics & Orthotics, Inc., where owner Michael Richard, CPO/LPO, worked closely with him over the next six months to custom-build a carbon fiber prosthetic, modifying it repeatedly until it fit him without any discomfort.

“It’s designed specifically for my fitness level and it fits my leg perfectly,” Stephen said.

Richard still laughs when he thinks back to the day he gave Stephen his prosthesis.

“The first time he tried it on, he said, ‘Do you think I could run again? I think I’ll just go for it,’” and then Stephen broke into a sprint.

As he ran, Stephen said he knew the decision to amputate – and the prosthetic – “opened up the whole world” to him again. He would be able to chase his niece and nephews again. He could play tag and football. He could do back flips. And he could get back to martial arts. It was everything he had yearned for in the six years since his accident.

Stephen quickly returned to his martial arts forms, drills and kicks, but sparring was no longer an option. The blade at the end of his foot would be too dangerous for any opponent. He needed something new to channel all his energy into. Richard suggested he consider trying out for American Ninja Warrior, an NBC show that pits some of the world’s most physically skilled men and women against each other on extremely challenging obstacle courses.

Stephen loved the idea and immediately set a plan in motion. He quit smoking and began training intensely. He joined every fitness class he could at Club 14 Fitness on Amelia Island and began regularly rock climbing at The Edge Rock Gym in Jacksonville. He submitted a video to the show in February and received a call inviting him to try out in Miami in May. If he doesn’t make it to the end of the show, he said he’ll just work harder and try again next year.

People stop him in the gym all the time to tell him he’s an inspiration for reaching such a high level of fitness despite his amputation. He hopes to inspire millions more by becoming the first amputee to compete on American Ninja Warrior.

It is one of many goals Stephen is chasing down. He’s also planning to go back to college to become a physical therapist.

Choosing to undergo an amputation is a huge decision, and Stephen recommends finding a peace with it before going into surgery.

“It’s one of those things you’ve got to see in your mind,” he said, tapping his finger against his head. “You’ve got to believe it in your head and your heart first. Trust in God, and trust in yourself.”

Berrey said he recommends that any patient considering amputation talk to someone who’s been through it and meet with a prosthetist before undergoing surgery. He has found that knowing what the steps will be after amputation lends comfort to people as they go through the process.

He often wonders why it takes patients who are in pain – like Stephen was – so long to get to him. He remembers one patient who literally didn’t leave the house for 20 years because of pain that could easily be alleviated by an amputation.

Watching Stephen rock climbing at The Edge Rock Gym recently, Berrey said, “This is what I would expect to see. I don’t consider any amputee disabled. You may look different, but what’s in your heart and your head is no different.”