NIAGARA COUNTY — Niagara County Sheriff’s Deputy Allen Gerhardt doesn’t really remember anything about what happened to him in the early morning hours of July 18.

He knows only what other deputies have told him about the grinding crash of his patrol car into a guardrail on Lake Road in the Town of Porter.

“I don’t remember anything from that night,” he said. “I have this whole image of the night, ingrained in my mind from what people told me, but it’s just an image.”

As Gerhardt tried to come to the aid of another deputy, who was chasing a fleeing criminal, his patrol car went off the road and a guardrail that should have protected him instead pierced the door of the vehicle. As the guardrail shot into the front seat, it severed Gerhardt’s legs.

Deputies Shawn Grapes and John Andres came to Gerhardt’s aid and applied tourniquets to his badly wounded legs. Their quick action prevented a greater tragedy.

“Those guys saved me,” Gerhardt said with a pause, “If it wasn’t for them, they saved my life. I would have never seen my wife and kids again. You guys wouldn’t be here taking pictures of me, you’d be taking pictures of my funeral.”

Instead, Gerhardt, his wife Tina, 14-year-old son Tyler and Niagara County Sheriff Jim Voutour spent a recent afternoon talking about what many are calling his remarkable recovery. Just over three weeks removed from the accident, Gerhardt sat comfortably in a chair in his room at the Erie County Medical Center and chatted with a reporter and posed for pictures with his wife and Voutour.

Asked how he was feeling, Gerhardt said, “I’m feeling great. Except for missing my two legs, I’m feeling 100 percent.”

The 36-year-old, three-year veteran of the sheriff’s office and former State Park Police officer said a combination of factors, including heavy doses of medication, left him knocked out through the emergency treatment and surgery he received immediately after the crash.

“I was out of it,” Gerhardt said. “Then when I did wake up, I began to pull out the tubes and everything, I didn’t know where I was.”

Tina, a registered nurse, came to his side and told Allen, and their children, that he had lost his legs. She says the work of the doctors and nurses at ECMC was critical to her husband’s survival and his recovery.

“The experience with the doctors has been outstanding. The whole staff at ECMC has just been outstanding,” Tina sad. “They’ve really taken care of his needs. They took their time, they didn’t rush.”

Gerhardt said follow up surgeries done in the days immediately after the crash will also make a difference as he looks to move forward with prosthetic legs.

“These doctors have been wonderful,” Gerhardt said. “If they hadn’t worked so hard on my legs I wouldn’t have what I have left, which is so important when it comes to fitting the prosthetics.”

Gerhardt has begun his rehabilitation work, with an eye on going home in the “near future.”

Looking at where his deputy is today, Voutour said he’s at least a little surprised by how Gerhardt has bounced back.

“After we saw him come into the hospital, we would never have expected him to be where he is today,” the sheriff said. “Then again, I didn’t expect anything less. He’s a war vet, mentally he’s very strong and he’s in good physical shape.”

As well as his recovery has gone so far, Gerhardt knows he still faces a tough road ahead.

“It’s gonna be a little bumpy,” he said. “I’m just worried about getting home first and getting healed up.”

A veteran helicopter pilot with the Army National Guard, who flew rescue missions after Hurricanes Katrina and Gustav and flew 500 combat hours in Iraq from 2006 to 2007, Gerhardt said he could still fly choppers once he is fitted with his prosthetics.

He was supposed to be flying a mission to Rhode Island last weekend. His fellow pilots flew by the window of his room at ECMC in a salute to him as they left town.

“It was impressive,” Gerhardt said with a bit of a smile. “It looked like they were going to fly right into the window.”

Voutour said he has started researching whether Gerhardt might be able to return to work as a deputy. He said there is one double amputee doing law enforcement work in the state.

“If he wants to return to work, it won’t be this sheriff standing in the way,” Voutour said. “We want him back, absolutely.”

Asked about a return to the sheriff’s office, Gerhardt said, “I hope so. But I’m taking it one day at a time.”

That’s the same way his family has been coping with the aftermath of the crash.

“We’re doing good,” Tina said. “We’re thankful every day that he’s here. We’ve got a road to recovery, but we’ll deal with that. He’s still here and we’re still the same people.”

Both Allen and Tina said the outpouring of support for them and their family has been overwhelming. They both said everyone — from friends to neighbors to complete strangers — have offered whatever help they can.

“From cutting my lawn to watching the kids, people we don’t even know are asking people in (law enforcement) uniforms how I’m doing,” Gerhardt said. “You don’t think people really care that much, but this gives you a different perspective. People have been there to share my pain with me.”

Gerhardt said it didn’t seem like “thank you” were strong enough words to express his appreciation to everyone for their support.

“Sometimes I just don’t think you can say, ‘Thank you.’ enough,” Tina added.

While the crash may have taken his legs, Gerhardt insists it hasn’t taken his spirit or his love of police work.

“The overwhelming support makes me feel proud to have been a part of making our community better,” Gerhardt said. “(Police work) is dangerous, but if I could go back in time, I’d still do it. I love the job. The gratification you get in helping people from big to small things, you couldn’t pay me to do something else.”