Reno County Sheriff’s Deputy Mitch Harris has returned to light duty as he continues to recover from critical injuries suffered in a car collision in September.

Harris was injured on Sept. 17 as he responded to an accident on Kansas 96 near Nickerson. His injuries put him in a wheelchair, but he now walks with only a slight limp.

Harris is crediting a bulletproof vest he was wearing with absorbing enough of the impact of the crash to prevent internal injuries.

The equipment company that made the vest plans to make Harris a new one, at no cost.

Reno County Sheriff Randy Henderson says the company, called Safariland, will temporarily shut down its production floor to tell employees about how their worked helped save Harris before shipping him the vest.