Why Paralympian Derek Loccident went from hiding his prosthetic to celebrating it in a Delta commercial

The Oklahoma City product is shooting for track gold in Paris at the Games.

Derek Loccident used to wear jeans or sweats whenever possible.

Long pants were more security blanket than fashion statement.

For years after losing his left foot in a train accident, he concealed his prosthetic. Anything to avoid awkward stares or uneasy questions or worse.

But Loccident isn't hiding anymore.

The Oklahoma-bred Paralympic trackster's journey is featured in a 60-second national TV commercial for Delta Airlines. One of the first images is Loccident adjusting a blade prosthetic, and since the commercial played during the Olympics, the very thing he used to conceal has now been seen by millions.

Loccident loves the ad.

"It took me back to where I came from, took me back down memory lane," he told me recently via telephone before a training session in California. "It was like all the hard days, hard nights that I went through, to see where I'm at in this short time. ... that's what I see when I see that commercial."

Where Loccident is now is the Paralympics. 

As the Games begin Wednesday in Paris with the Opening Ceremony, Loccident is ready to continue his journey. He will run and jump and even throw in four events for Team USA, and even though this is his first Paralympics, he has lofty goals.

"I'm in tip-top shape," he said. "I don't see why I won't be able to medal in all four events. I'm definitely a competitor and look to do that."

If Loccident brings home hardware in the 100, long jump, high jump or javelin, it would punctuate an incredible two years in Paralympic track and field.

An incredible six years since his accident, too.

To appreciate where Loccident has come from, you need to rewind to September 2018. The former Westmoore High School standout was starting his third season on the football team at the University of Central Oklahoma. He was one of the Bronchos' starting safeties, a hard hitter and a big tackler.

Through two games, no one on the team had more tackles.

But that weekend, Loccident went to Bricktown with some friends, and when he came out of the bathroom late in the evening, he realized it was closing time. He couldn't locate his friends, and without a phone, he headed to a nearby convenience store hoping he could use a phone and make a call. 

A train parked on railroad tracks stood between Loccident and the store, so he decided to climb between the cars.

Suddenly, the train began to move. 

Loccident stumbled, hit his head and was knocked unconscious. When he came to, he realized the train had severed his left foot.

He spent several weeks in the hospital and had more than half a dozen surgeries. Countless hours of rehabilitation would follow. So would sleepless nights.

Loccident decided early on that he wanted to play football again, and after more than two and a half years, he returned to the field and his team at UCO.

But along the way, another dream took root: going to the Paralympics.

He dabbled in track and field even as he played football, but in the fall of 2022, his second season back, Loccident got invited to train full-time at the Chula Vista Elite Athlete Training Center in California. He was about to graduate, but he had another year of football eligibility remaining.

Should he say?

Should he go?

"If I have any opportunity of trying to make the team or doing anything in Paralympics," he thought, "this would probably be the best opportunity."

As it was, he was still starting with a condensed timeline; the U.S. Paralympic Track and Field Trials were only a year and a half away.

"I had no doubt in my ability and who I was as a person," Loccident said. "I know I had the work ethic and had the ability."

What he didn't have was sponsors.

Most world-class Paralympians have financial backers who help provide training, housing and equipment. For an amputee like Loccident, that includes prosthetics.

For his first year, he had only one prosthesis instead of specialized ones for different events.

"That kind of made things a little difficult," he said, "but I ended up making it work out."

Did he ever.

Loccident made Team USA for the 2023 world championships, then won silver in the long jump for T64, the designation for athletes with a single below-the-knee amputation who compete with a prosthesis.

"Once I did that, I was like, honestly, there's no excuse," Loccident said. "It doesn't matter the equipment or who's behind you. It depends on the person that's competing."

But at the same time, his success opened doors to big-time sponsors, including Ossur, an international orthopedics and prosthetics company, and Delta Airlines.

"It was honestly groundbreaking for me," Loccident said.

Earlier this year at the world championships, he won silver in the long jump and high jump as well as bronze in the 100.

Now, he wants Paralympic medals.

Loccident hopes the Games introduce his story to a new audience, too. Maybe they'll hear about him during the broadcast. Perhaps they'll see that Delta commercial.

He hopes people realize where he is now isn't where he started.

"It's what they call a beautiful struggle," he said. "It's not sunshine and rainbows every day for me."

He chuckled.

"It may look like that with how I approach people," said Loccident, who has a wide smile and a magnetic charm. "But I have an edge to me as well. I have tough, hard days where I don't like speaking to anybody, but that's part of my life and part of my story. That's what comes with it."

Derek Loccident has come through dark valleys, but that makes the bright mountaintops so much better.

"It's been quite a journey," he said. "Being able to call myself a Paralympian is absolutely amazing."