Deputy Fire Chief and former Irwin Councilman Shawn Stitely walked up to the podium during a recent council meeting to request that his former colleagues waive their $500 limit on repairs to fire trucks. Volunteer firefighters wanted to buy a $1,300 part that broke during a fire in neighboring North Irwin.

Council members in the past have responded to such pleas from firefighters with open skepticism and suspicion.

Not this time, though.

In an emotional gesture, council members and a larger-than-usual group of residents on hand smiled and applauded. Many believed Stitely, 38, was lucky to be alive, let alone attend a council meeting. He was severely injured April 9 when his motorcycle and a car collided at the intersection of Route 30 and Lowry Avenue in Jeannette.

"I had tears in my eyes and felt a lump in my throat when I saw Shawn walk into council chambers," said Councilman Harry Neil, a firefighter. "Only God knows what he must have gone through just to get this far."

The crash was so violent that Stitely's nearly half-ton bike landed on top of him. He was taken to Mercy-Jeannette Hospital and then flown by helicopter to Allegheny General Hospital on Pittsburgh's North Side. During his 10-day hospital stay, it was determined that he had a broken pelvis, fractured tailbone, two broken vertebrae, four crushed vertebrae, six crushed discs, five crushed ribs and a deep gash in his head that required 12 staples to close.

The injuries were so extensive doctors said Stitely is fortunate that he did not lose the use of both legs.

He went home in a body cast to face grueling therapy sessions three times a week. Doctors told him he might be able go back to his job as a third-shift technician at the Western Westmoreland Municipal Authority sewage treatment plant in six or seven months. Stitely returned to work last Monday.

"So many people and my family prayed for me and encouraged me," said Stitely, who's also a Norwin High School classmate and close friend of Pittsburgh Fire Chief Mike Huff, a former Irwin firefighter. "The odds were stacked against me, but I knew I just had to make it back. They were counting on it."

Council unanimously agreed to waive the cost limit for the equipment part. Firefighter John Gill did the repair work to save money. The fire truck is back in service.

And Stitely's motorcycle? He sold it.