Homeless Advocate Who Lost Leg On LA Skid Row Returns

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A homeless advocate who lost his leg to the streets has returned to Skid Row in Los Angeles.

The Rev. Andy Bales rolled through the downtown area on Friday in a wheelchair, nine weeks after his lower right leg was amputated.

He's a diabetic and contracted infections that doctors say he probably picked up during his daily strolls through the neighborhood.

Bales is CEO of Union Rescue Mission, the city's oldest and largest homeless shelter. Homelessness in L.A. has soared, due in part to a housing shortage.

Bales tells the Daily News of Los Angeles that officials need to declare a state of emergency to immediate provide more resources for the homeless.

Bales says he'd give another leg to get a roof over everyone's head.

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