Divers return prosthetic leg to man who lost it in American River Giacomo Luca Replay Video UP NEXT John Hovis' raft hit rapids, throwing him into the water and nearly drowning him. The 63-year-old said a young man rescued him to safety, but his prosthetic leg was nowhere to be found. “I knew I was hitting the rapids right there but I didn’t know it was gonna shoot me up out of the water,” Hovis said. Hovis lost his left leg following a motorcycle crash on April 1, 1980. The prosthetic leg makes it much easier for him to walk, though it’s expensive.