agility test grueling obstacle course must be completed in 7:30. somebody told me what you lost is bone and muscle you still got heart and what is up here. reporter: he trained more than a year learning to run again and gained enough strength to take the test. come on! reporter: with his community, friends and family behind himç=ñ, ken passed the test with only seconds to spare. his journey back to wearing the badge was complete. i can t believe it. it is believable. reporter: in december of 2007 two years after the accident detective ken leonard returned to the high point police department. everybody kept telling me they knew i was going to make it. reporter: with one
he had to cancel the camp. mr. steinbrenner got wind of the story and want sent a letter with a signed bat inviting him back to camp for free, whenókm he felt ready. reporter: after years of recovery ken was ready. with george steinbrenner s invitation in hand he packed up his cleats and headed to tampa. wearing pinstripes. i can t describe what it feels like, fantastic, like a dream. standing home plate looking at mickey rivers, bucky dent, david wells. mike torres, all these guys, i can believe it. reporter: ken fulfilled his childhood wish. for one incredible week he was playing baseball as a new york yankee. it felt amazing. that is what is so great. they don t want you to pretend you are a yankee they want you to feel like you are a yankee. you come in the locker room
after he arrived in baghdad a roadside bomb[du exploded, blasting through the armored vehicle ken was traveling in. two months after the accident, ken spoke of that horrible day. i m lucky to be alive. fallen into the pavement and looked at my feet and realized how bad it was. once i looked at em i knew they were gone. legs below the knee. after the explosion ken was determined to prove the roadside bomb wouldn t steal his love of law enforcement. while in the hospital in greensboro the chief told me if i wanted to come back they would do whatever they could to make that happen. reporter: with gritty determination, prosthetics and hours of physical therapy, ken learned to walk again. but his biggest obstacle was still ahead. before he could wear a police and form again he to pass the police officers physical
after he arrived in baghdad a roadside bomb[du exploded, blasting through the armored vehicle ken was traveling in. two months after the accident, ken spoke of that horrible day. i m lucky to be alive. fallen into the pavement and looked at my feet and realized how bad it was. once i looked at em i knew they were gone. legs below the knee. after the explosion ken was determined to prove the roadside bomb wouldn t steal his love of law enforcement. while in the hospital in greensboro the chief told me if i wanted to come back they would do whatever they could to make that happen. reporter: with gritty determination, prosthetics and hours of physical therapy, ken learned to walk again. but his biggest obstacle was still ahead. before he could wear a police and form again he to pass the police officers physical agility test grueling obstacle
rosh when reporter: when he was a young boy he deemed of following in his father s footsteps. my father played in 60, 61. i wanted to be a yankee player. reporter: when reality set in he dreamed of becoming a police officer like his grandfather. my grandfather was in the nypd. 1992 i on the police department. i been with them ever since. reporter: he began in north carolina has a patrol officer. after serving the small carolina community for 12 years an opportunity to serve his country came knocking. in 2004, ken answered the call. left the police department and went to work for a private security firm that trained iraqi police officers in baghdad that one decision on december 30th, 2005, a year