Justin Ellis

For more than two decades, Justin Ellis has served the Dallas community as a police officer. After growing up in North Dallas, he built a life and career rooted in service, commitment, and protecting others.

On October 10, 2016, Justin was working a stabbing call when his life changed in an instant. While riding his police motorcycle from the scene to search for the suspect, a vehicle pulled out in front of him. Justin was T-boned at 45 miles per hour and thrown from his bike.

He stayed conscious at first, but after being transported to the hospital, his body went into what doctors described as a self-induced coma. Justin remained unconscious for a month and a half and underwent multiple surgeries for serious internal injuries.

“I’m just fortunate to be here,” Justin said. “They told me I had three or four things that could’ve taken me out, and they didn’t know how I made it through all of it.”

After his injury, life on his family’s property in Rockwall became much more difficult. Their five acres are built more like a traditional farm or ranch, with only a small paved area near the garage and sidewalks leading to the patios. The rest of the property is crushed asphalt, grass, dirt, and mud.

Before receiving his Can-Am from Freedom Mobility Foundation, Justin was often limited to staying close to the house. Going down the driveway in his wheelchair was rough on the wheels, physically difficult, and time-consuming. Checking fence lines, feeding horses, clearing brush, and keeping up with daily ranch-style chores often meant depending on others.

“It kind of kept you isolated to around the house only,” Justin said. “Otherwise, I had to depend on somebody else to go check the property.”

That changed when Freedom Mobility Foundation provided Justin with a Can-Am equipped to meet his mobility needs. Around that same time, through the support of Helicopters for Heroes and Carter Malouf, Justin also received an Action Trackchair. Together, the equipment opened up parts of his life and property that had become difficult to access.

The Can-Am has allowed Justin to get back out across the land with his family. He uses it to run chores around the property, feed horses, check fence lines, clear brush, haul supplies, and spend time outdoors with his children. Sometimes, it is even used for a quick ride down the county road to Sonic after a hot day of yard work.

For Justin, the impact goes far beyond convenience. The Can-Am has given him options, independence, and the ability to make memories with his son and daughter in places that were once harder to reach.

“It gives you back some of that independence to do your own thing versus being confined by the limitations of your mobility,” Justin said.

He described the equipment as lowering the “restriction curtain” that once limited where he could go and what he could do. Whether it is working around the property, spending time in nature, or having the ability to say yes to future outdoor opportunities, the Can-Am has helped restore a sense of freedom.