All Casey Streeter can do is smile when he thinks about how far he has come in a few short years. He was rising through the ranks as a professional boxer in 2017 and was looking forward to starting a new job as a correctional officer at the Maine Corrections Center in Windham, but on his final day of work as an arborist, he almost lost his life and his right leg in an accident.
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| Boxer Casey Streeter, left, beat Joe Farina of Massachusetts to win the New England Super Welterweight title during a championship fight at the Portland Expo on Nov. 11. He had to overcome a crippling injury to his right leg in 2017 from a logging accident to come back and continue his professional boxing career. STEPHEN SHEA PHOTOGRPAHY |
“I became part of Bobby Russo’s Portland Boxing Club in order to have an outlet,” Streeter said. “It literally saved my life.”
But it all came to a screeching halt in August 2017 when a log truck’s grapple suddenly clamped down on his leg.
When the accident happened, Streeter was working dragging logs with a log chain from a ditch in North Yarmouth. He had wrapped one end of the chain around a tree trunk and was walking the other end of the chain up to the log truck’s grapple from a ditch when his co-worker lost sight of him, and the grapple suddenly closed and clamped onto his leg.
His femur and knee were shattered, he sustained a compound fracture, and a chunk of his leg was also torn away by the grapple. Blood erupted from his wound and the grapple’s claw had just missed his femoral artery by a quarter inch. He stumbled down into the ditch and didn’t know if he was going to live. He thought of his wife Abby and his children and wondered if this was the end of his life.
Streeter’s co-worker found him in the ditch, tried calling for help on his cell phone but there was no cell service available. He then ran to a nearby home and used their telephone to summon help.
Rushed to Maine Medical Center, his leg was so mangled that doctors were unsure if they could save it. But his orthopedic trauma surgeon was a military veteran who had worked with soldiers on the battlefield in Iraq. He assured Streeter that he would not lose his leg and reconstructed it carefully using more than 20 metal pins and rods. A severe wound infection and post-traumatic stress disorder stemming from the accident also had to be overcome by Streeter.
He then began walking again with the aid of crutches and following months of difficult physical therapy, he felt that he had turned a corner and might be able to box again.
Slowly recovering, Streeter returned to his gym in 2019 at the Portland Boxing Club and started working out for his longtime trainer Russo who had known him for decades. He then vowed if he had made it this far in his recovery, he was bound and determined to win a championship and he adopted a new “Comeback Kid” nickname.
“During a training camp, I work six days a week, up to two to three hours of a workout routine,” Streeter said. “I spar, do mitt work, work on strength and conditioning, and can run multiple miles in a week. This is after I’ve already worked a nine-hour shift.”
On Saturday, Nov. 11 at the Portland Expo in Portland, Streeter, 32, fought Joe Farina of Massachusetts for the New England Super Welterweight title at 154 pounds.
Farina entered the bout with a record of 11-1 and the fight went a full eight rounds. It was a tough fight, but Streeter’s strong combinations came out on top, and judges awarded him a majority decision and the championship belt. His record now stands at 11-2-1 and his professional career is back on track.
“What I like the most about boxing is it’s something that helps keep my mental health in check,” he said. “I like the handwork and dedication and my gym family is what I value most.”
Streeter said that he hopes to fight again early in the New Year but in the meantime, he’s enjoying spending time with his family and reflecting on his title. <
Rushed to Maine Medical Center, his leg was so mangled that doctors were unsure if they could save it. But his orthopedic trauma surgeon was a military veteran who had worked with soldiers on the battlefield in Iraq. He assured Streeter that he would not lose his leg and reconstructed it carefully using more than 20 metal pins and rods. A severe wound infection and post-traumatic stress disorder stemming from the accident also had to be overcome by Streeter.
He then began walking again with the aid of crutches and following months of difficult physical therapy, he felt that he had turned a corner and might be able to box again.
Slowly recovering, Streeter returned to his gym in 2019 at the Portland Boxing Club and started working out for his longtime trainer Russo who had known him for decades. He then vowed if he had made it this far in his recovery, he was bound and determined to win a championship and he adopted a new “Comeback Kid” nickname.
“During a training camp, I work six days a week, up to two to three hours of a workout routine,” Streeter said. “I spar, do mitt work, work on strength and conditioning, and can run multiple miles in a week. This is after I’ve already worked a nine-hour shift.”
On Saturday, Nov. 11 at the Portland Expo in Portland, Streeter, 32, fought Joe Farina of Massachusetts for the New England Super Welterweight title at 154 pounds.
Farina entered the bout with a record of 11-1 and the fight went a full eight rounds. It was a tough fight, but Streeter’s strong combinations came out on top, and judges awarded him a majority decision and the championship belt. His record now stands at 11-2-1 and his professional career is back on track.
“What I like the most about boxing is it’s something that helps keep my mental health in check,” he said. “I like the handwork and dedication and my gym family is what I value most.”
Streeter said that he hopes to fight again early in the New Year but in the meantime, he’s enjoying spending time with his family and reflecting on his title. <
