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Alan J. Lewis (left) accepts the Great Schools Hero Award from WEAC President Stan Johnson. Lewis' brother, Demakus, accompanied him to the ceremony.
When Alan J. Lewis says he's going to do something, you just have to believe him.
Despite losing both his legs below the knees in the Iraq war less than two years ago, Lewis walked up to the stage at the WEAC Winter Conference Saturday (February 26, 2005) and accepted the Great Schools Hero Award.
Thanks to his courage and determination, he has accomplished his goal of walking again, with the help of two artificial legs.
Now he has a new goal: becoming a teacher and football coach in Milwaukee Public Schools.
Lewis has faced an unusual amount of adversity in his life: His sister and his best friend were both killed by stray bullets, and his father was robbed and killed, all in separate incidents. Then while serving in Iraq in July of 2003, the Humvee he was driving hit a land mine, tearing off his right leg below the knee and damaging his left leg so badly that it was later amputated below the knee. The blast also broke his left arm in six places and injured his left eye, according to an account in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Lewis said the Great Schools Hero award is "a lot to live up to," but that he draws on the inspiration of his former teachers in Milwaukee schools.
"Every step I made in education, there was always one teacher who inspired me," he said.
One in particular, he said, was Marshall High School history teacher Kenneth Walker.
"He taught us we could be more than we are," Lewis said.
The former standout athlete and high school football player is now working toward a teaching degree at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
"I look forward to being a WEAC member," he told the Winter Conference participants. "Nothing is going to stop me."
Posted March 1, 2005