EL CAJON, Calif.—
An El Cajon postal worker has been walking his route and delivering the mail to downtown businesses despite only having one leg.Bill Kuehling had to have his leg amputated in 2001 after doctors found a rare soft-tissue cancer in his shin area.
"Everything was fine and then a lump showed up," Kuehling said.
After the surgery Kuehling went through a couple of prosthetics before finally finding something comfortable enough for him to attempt a comeback.
"All I wanted to do was get back to carrying mail," Kuehling said. "That was my goal. It was basically my rehabilitation."
Kuehling lost his leg in 2001 but he has been working for the postal service since he was 18 years old and is in his 29th year as a mail carrier.
While he does have a mail truck that he uses for most of his deliveries, Kuehling's walking route is on the 100 block of East Main Street in El Cajon.
"He makes me laugh," said Gabriel Marrujo, a downtown business owner who has known Kuehling since his amputation. "He gives me a hard time -- I give him a hard time. I look forward to my mail sometimes."
"I love the people and seeing everybody out on my route," Kuehling said.
Kuehling said the rehabilitation process was difficult and gets choked up when reflecting back on that time of his life.
"I was difficult to live with," Kuehling said, choking back the tears. "When things weren't so easy and before I got to the point where I could walk again... what my wife put up with, what I put her through.... My wife, she's my rock."
Kuehling said that together they worked him back into good health and good spirits, then eventually back to carrying the mail.
"Mentally was the hardest part," Kuehling said. "But I found out that I can do it plus I can run circles around a few people."
"He has a disability that somebody would call a disability but when you talk to him and know him, he doesn't have any disabilities," said Lynn Endicott, an El Cajon business owner. "He's here five sometimes six days a week and he always has a smile on his face."
