Skydiver Loses Prosthetic Leg in Jump, Farmer Finds It in Field: 'A Needle in a Haystack'

"I think my adrenaline was so high and I was just so excited, I didn't realize I had lost it," said the skydiver

Farmer Joe Marszalkowski holds a prosthetic leg, Monday, July 27, 2020, that he found Sunday in a soybean field on his farm in West Addison, Vermont. Photo: Jack Thurston/ap

A skydiver was reunited with his prosthetic leg lost after an unsuspecting farmer stumbled upon the fallen limb.

On Saturday, Chris Marckres, of Hyde Park, Vermont, took a leap from thousands of feet up, and the last thing on the double amputee's mind during the daredevil outing was that his prosthetic leg would detach and make its own way to the ground.

"I think my adrenaline was so high and I was just so excited, I didn't realize I had lost it," Marckres told NBC affiliate NECN.

Harnessed to an experienced skydiving instructor, Marckres made a safe landing, the outlet reported. But then he realized the prosthetic was gone and made a plea on social media for local followers to help recover the prosthetic leg, which would be costly to replace.

Chris Marckres. Chris Marckres Facebook

A nearby farmer named Joe Marszalkowski took to his soybean fields to comb for the missing leg. He finally found it over the weekend and returned it to Marckres.

"Just got a message from Joe Marszalkowski that he found my leg. 9500 foot drop and it's 100% intact," Marckres wrote on Facebook. "I can not even begin thank everyone enough that has been involved with the search. You all have shown me there are still so many good people."

Marszalkowski responded, "I felt compelled to help this man, and by the grace of God I am able to return his leg!"

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Marszalkowski explained to NECN the process he went through to find the prosthetic leg, which still had a black-and-green New Balance shoe in place.

"You've always got to keep an eye out," he told the outlet. "It was literally a needle in a haystack as far as trying to find it."

Added Marszalkowski: "I was very grateful to have found it without running it over with a machine this fall during harvest. Or, God forbid, the combine sucked it up — it would've destroyed it."

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The whole experience was "positive," said Marckres, and demonstrated to him that people, indeed, look out for one another.

"I can't thank everybody enough, especially Joe," he said. "We kind of take for granted sometimes how many truly good people there still are in the world."

Marckres shared footage and photos from his skydiving experience on Facebook, writing that it was an "amazing day," and that "there is more of this in my future for sure!"

Meeting up to return the prosthetic leg, Marszalkowski — who said he wouldn't be claiming the reward offered by the skydiver — posed for a selfie with Marckres. The two smiled in the photo, which the farmer captioned, "It’s never too late to make new friends."