Robert Castellano walks with some difficulty, but at least he is walking. And for that he gives thanks to God.

When he lost his left leg in 2011, he never gave up hope that one day he would stand upright and walk on two legs again.But that's what he's doing, thanks to what he calls his bionic leg.He was working at Dunkelberger's Sports Outfitter in Stroudsburg and had been having pains in his right calf. He attributed it to being on his feet all day and running up and down stairs.Both he and his wife, Pat, remember Sept. 26, 2011 very well."It was my day off. I was in a cafe on Route 611 having coffee. My leg began burning. I just wanted to get home. I got in the driveway and when I tried to get out of the car, my legs felt like rubber. I was half in the car, half out. I blew the horn for Pat but it was my neighbor who came out first," Castellano says.When Pat arrived at his side, he told her, "Call an ambulance. I can't breathe. I can't feel my leg."He was blue.Pat, a retired hospice nurse's aide, ran in the house to call 9-1-1.'Not going to make it'He was rushed to Pocono Medical Center in East Stroudsburg. Castellano had suffered a massive heart attack. The doctor told Pat he would put in two stents, but didn't think her husband was going to make it.Pat never doubted and said, "Jesus will do this."Surprising almost everyone else, he survived the surgery. She believes this was one of many miracles of God he would experience.Plaque had detached from Castellano's lung and shot down the left side of his heart to his leg. Castellano, a heavy smoker, was diagnosed with peripheral artery disease, a circulatory problem in which narrowed arteries reduce blood flow to the limbs.When Castellano had no pulse in his left leg, the doctors said his heart function was at 10 percent. They made the decision to cut the leg off above his knee to try to help save his life.They placed a pacemaker inside his chest.When he went into end stage renal failure, he was placed on dialysis and had a fistula placed in his right wrist.He had 16 tubes in him. At one point, he was losing blood and they did an emergency endoscopy to determine from where he was bleeding. He had developed a stress ulcer.He was on ventilation and in a coma. Pat was told he probably had brain damage and should consider taking him off life support."The staff wrote him off. But I never did."Instead she just kept praying.Waking upEight surgeries and two weeks later, Castellano finally woke up and learned his leg had been removed."I thought they had just shortened it. But then I understood what happened. I realized there was nothing I could do about it. I was just glad to be alive," he says."They called him 'Lazarus' because it was like he rose from the dead," says Pat.He spent the next three-and-a-half months in two different nursing homes and another stay in the hospital, before he could finally go home.Through it all, the Castellanos' church family was there for them in every way, from praying for him to driving Pat to and from the hospital and nursing homes. A member of Cornerstone Community Church in Kresgeville since 2006, Robert was a drummer in the praise band.Since he was 7 years old, he played the drums while growing up in Jersey City, N.J. Music has always been a huge part of his family's life. Castellano studied music for 14 years, even attending the Buddy Rich Drum School in Manhattan. His two brothers played guitar and bass guitar. They had their own band (Trans Atlantic Stagecoach) and played professionally for many years.When he was 21 he went to school to learn computer programming, a new field. In the early '70s when personal computers were introduced, he and his colleagues said they would never last."Boy, do we laugh about that now."He and Pat, who have three children between them, bought a house in Brodheadsville in 2001 and he commuted to work until he was laid off. When his unemployment ran out in 2006, they lost their home but found a spiritual one at Cornerstone.Back to praisingSo when Robert was finally able to attend church, he was surprised to be asked by Bill Bock, one of the music ministry directors, if he wanted to come up and play the drums that morning."At this time, I was hopping around on one leg, using a walker. I told Bill I'd give it a try, if I could get up there."He managed but found it very strange to only play the drums with one foot."It was a big adjustment. But it felt great to be doing something I loved.""Robert had played with us for many years," Bock said. "Then when he had the heart attack, it really changed things for him. When I had seen him in the hospital, I didn't think he was going to make it. So we're very thankful to God that he is with us today. He's got his confidence again to get back up behind the set making music with us again."Today Castellano is able to stand on two legs, thanks to a state-of-the-art computerized prosthesis. He has no pain. His heart and kidneys are working 100 percent. He has no brain damage. He can drive and is playing drums."He's a walking miracle," Pat said.This Thanksgiving, Castellano believes he has a lot to be thankful for. Topping his list is his wife, his church family and that he's alive."I was told God spared me because He has something planned for me yet," Castellano says.He can't wait to find out what it is.