Portland woman loses prosthetic leg in Clackamas River

PORTLAND, Ore. (KGW) – A Portland, Oregon woman has her prosthetic leg back after losing it in the Clackamas River.

On Saturday, Ariel Rigney and several friends dropped into the river at McIver State Park to celebrate her 32nd birthday.

“Every year, I like to do a birthday float,” Rigney said.

Rigney lost her right leg below the knee in a car crash as a teen, but her prosthetic leg has allowed her to stay active. “I can still swim, hike, bike and run,” she said.

Rigney’s prosthetic leg didn’t stop her Saturday either. The trouble was the bungee cord that held her prosthetic leg to the raft, which came undone.

“We just hit a big bump and the leg went pfrewwww!” said Jacob Morton, Rigney’s friend who tried to save Rigney’s leg. “It became pretty obvious pretty quickly that we didn’t have the resources to get the leg.”

Rigney felt helpless, resigned to the fact that she had lost the leg.

“I just saw it bobbing and I’m like, ‘No!’ I felt more ridiculous than anything. Like, who loses a leg, twice?” she said.