BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — Ken Burke is an avid runner, but he shattered femur in six places - after he got hurt running a marathon.
"So for three months I walked around on what was essentially a stress fracture," he said
His husky puppy, Morgan, loves to run too. With his injury he opted to get on his skateboard.
"And she was on the left hand side, moved over to the right hand side, I ended up jumping off my skateboard and my leg just exploded," said Burke.
After reconstructive surgery and sitting on his parents' couch for about 8 and a half months, he realized something.
"Everyone told me how bad like breaking a femur was, and it happened and I was like, that wasn't that bad. And that kind of ignited something in my head like maybe it's not as bad as I'm being told," he said
Burke said he didn't want someone capping his potential. His mantra became 'What if I didn't quit on myself? What would that look like?'"
"I'm not just going to accept that for myself. I'm not just going to let some doctor tell me you can't do that," he said.
Burke said he had to get back in shape, and he did that by running several marathons.
All to prepare for an almost 600 mile run from Manhattan to Buffalo. Which he completed in eleven days, and was back in Buffalo Monday.
And before the pandemic started, he was able to help out a young woman by donating a kidney to her, just in time for Christmas.
"And they always told me she's a rare case, her mother gave her a kidney, chances are you're not going to be a match," he said.
But he was following his mantra, and said what if I don't quit on her?
