Dayton, Ohio police officer Byron Branch is heading to Paris to compete in the 2024 Paralympic Games in wheelchair fencing.
Branch was seriously injured in 2016 while responding to an accident that resulted in the loss of his leg.
“I was responding to an accident on the highway,” Branch said.Fox and his friends“There was a semi truck on the side of the road that had just been in an accident. I went to check on the driver to make sure everything was okay before I drove away. He got out of his vehicle. I said, ‘For your safety, let’s talk on the other side of my vehicle.’ The next thing I knew, I woke up in the hospital.”
Branch then won gold in the Pan American Games in Canada two years after the accident, then again in 2022 and 2024, with his 16 years of fencing experience.
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A view of the Olympic rings in Paris (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard, file)
“I just tried to apply what I knew about fencing to the wheelchair game. There was a little bit of difficulty learning, but nothing too extreme.”
“I think the most important thing once you’ve gone through a traumatic event is to try to get back to where you were before the event,” Branch said.
Branch, who is married with two daughters, said he was excited to go to the Olympic Games with his family there to support him.
“It will be the first time they will see me compete abroad at this level.”
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A GoFundMe Campaign was created to help Branch cover his expenses at the games, as he doesn’t have a sponsor. The page has raised over $44,000.
“I would like to personally thank everyone who has helped me so far. It has been extremely helpful and very encouraging,” Branch told the Fox News audience.
“What I’m most excited about is being in the atmosphere of all the other athletes who will represent the country, and seeing all the athletes from all over the world being in this atmosphere. It’s incredible.”
Branch was named Dayton’s 2018 Police Officer of the Year, according to the Dayton Daily News.
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This photograph taken on November 15, 2022 in Paris shows the official logo of the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games, displayed in the official Paris 2024 store in the Les Halles shopping center in central Paris. – The Olympic and Paralympic mascots are named “Les Phryges” and represent the French revolutionary Phrygian caps. (THOMAS SAMSON/AFP via Getty Images)
