'This will help extend my day': U.S Army veteran receives new wheelchair after losing his leg

SPRING LAKE, N.C. (WTVD) -- The sky is the limit for U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Robert Peck, who was gifted a new wheelchair.

"This compounds what I can actually do. It makes it so much more," Peck said.

After six years and multiple tours in the Middle East, Peck was preparing to deploy for Afghanistan in 2014. During a training exercise, he was involved in a helicopter crash.

"When they found me, they said they found me between the aft pylon -- what was left of it -- and the engine," Peck said.

Peck went through 60 surgeries and ultimately lost his left leg.

"The worst part of it was for my kids. I went through and I had all this done. But they had to sit there and watch. They had to see me go from strong to weak again," Peck said.

The Freedom Alliance gifted Peck an all-terrain wheelchair, complete with a tackle box and a place to put his fishing rod.

"It can go over any terrain -- snow, ice, the beach, it can climb hills. It can get Robert pretty much wherever he needs to go," said Tom Kilgannon, Freedom Alliance president.

Peck's children get to see him regain a piece of his strength, and most importantly, it'll bring him closer to his family.

"This will help extend my day. So, I can do more, be more with my kids," Peck said.

Peck is just one of 55 veterans gifted one of the wheelchairs by Freedom Alliance.