North Texas man who lost his leg after motorcycle crash sharing his story in hopes it helps others
DALLAS - A local MMA announcer's life changed in a split second when he was involved in a motorcycle crash.
As he was in the fight of his lifetime, he motivated himself to not only recover, but to bounce back even better than before.
Antonio Perkins’ energy is infectious.
When people first meet him, they might think he is a life coach, and in some ways, he is.
Perkins turned a tragedy into a blessing and he counts a surgeon at Methodist Dallas as one of his close friends.
The 46-year-old factory worker moonlights as an MMA announcer and it’s where he thrives.
He's never missed a match up in his 12-year career.
That all changed on the night of January 6, 2023.
"I blacked out, woke up on the side of the road, somebody is shaking me," Perkins recalled.
Perkins was riding his motorcycle on 67 South in Dallas when he said a car clipped him, knocking him off his bike at approximately 70 miles per hour.
He shattered his pelvis and broke several ribs. He remembered a Good Samaritan put a tourniquet around his right leg.
"At this point, I knew something was wrong with my foot. I couldn't feel below my knee," Perkins said.
"His recovery was second to none. It was so fast. He just wanted it," Dr. Danny Holland recalled.
Dr. Holland is the orthopedic trauma surgeon at Methodist Dallas who helped save Perkins’ life that fateful night.
That meant a portion of Perkins’ right leg had to be amputated right at about the shin.
"The leg was not salvageable at that time," Dr. Holland said.
Perkins spent a month in the hospital. He was fitted with a prosthesis, did rehab, and then in April, Perkins met a group of people who would change his life.
Perkins signed up for a nine-week program at the Adaptive Training Foundation in Carrollton called "Redefine."
The facility helps to bridge the gap from basic functional rehabilitation to adapted sport.
"I'm seeing amputees, people in wheelchairs, and I say, ‘Okay, I'm not alone in this,’" Perkins said.
Perkins thrived, and by the end of the program, was in some of the best shape of his life.
"There was a lot of sweat and some tears," he recalled.
On April 7, 2023, Perkins returned to Texas Live to announce an MMA match for the first time since the wreck.
Dr. Holland and his family were there to cheer him on.
Perkins' wife, who was there too, wiped away his tears.
Perkins was overcome with emotion by the support of his new friend, who quite literally saved his life.
"I want to encourage someone else who feels like they may be alone, they can't get through it, or dealt a bad hand, that life doesn't have to be over," Perkins said.
Dr. Holland said Perkins would sit in his office waiting room and try to uplift and encourage other patients not to give up while he was in the midst of his own recovery.
He added that it was that winning attitude that got him to where he is today.