A Kansas City Chiefs fan had to retract his joke about a staff member after learning the truth about his condition.
After the defending Super Bowl champions posted their roster and staff photo on January 17, user Kent Swanson took the image and wrote ‘That time of year we try to find who’s photoshopped.’
Responding to the post, a user named Shawn cropped out assistant running back coach Porter Ellet, who is missing his right arm.
‘My guy,’ Shawn wrote with the photo. ‘If he is actually missing an arm im sorry.’
Further down the thread, Shawn posted a banner from a feature on Ellet, confirming that he impressively does his job with the Chiefs despite having one arm.
‘Oh no,’ Shawn wrote. Ellet responded to the post saying ‘Apology accepted,’ to which Shawn replied ‘You’re the man Porter.’
Chiefs assistant coach Porter Ellett lost his arm in an accident when he was four years old
Your browser does not support iframes.
In an exclusive interview with PEOPLE, Ellet detailed how he lost his arm when he was four and the incredible trajectory his life has had since.
‘One day we were going out there… I wanted to be in the back of the truck,’ said Ellett. ‘Then we hit a bump and I fell out of the back of the truck.’
‘I hit my head super hard and fractured my skull, scalped me, and partially severed an artery. All these things. Bad stuff,’ he explained.
‘My dad picked me up from the injury… He had to take my scalp and put it back on my head.’
Ellet, who grew up on a farm in Utah said the doctors treated his head injury before learning he ‘severed the nerves’ in his spine which controlled his right arm. Unfortunately, they were unable to fix the damage.
‘My earliest memories after the accident were just feeling injured,’ Ellett said. ‘I remember walking by one of the windows and seeing kids outside playing basketball. I remember thinking, ‘This isn’t fair. It’s not cool. I’m supposed to be out there doing what they’re doing.’
Ellett poses with Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes in the White House
Ellett with Travis Kelce during one of the Chiefs’ Super Bowl victory celebrations
Ellett was hired by the Chiefs when he was 27 and has been with the team for eight seasons
Nonetheless, severing his arm did not stop Ellet from getting involved in sports, admitting his love for basketball and baseball. His involvement in football came when he worked in the equipment room while attending BYU.
Not long after college, Andy Reid offered Ellet a job as his assistant at age 27. ‘He was like, ‘Hey, you’ll be my right hand man,’ ‘ he recalls Reid saying — to which Ellett replied, ”As long as you’re okay with your right-hand man not having a right hand!”
Eight seasons later, Ellet remains an integral part of the Chiefs staff and has three Super Bowl titles.
He resides in Kansas City with his wife Carlie and three kids.
