I graduated high school in 2004 and shipped out to Army infantry basic training in Fort Benning, Georgia. Upon graduation, I joined my new duty station, 1st Armored Division, in Baumholder, Germany. After a year of training up and readying ourselves for combat, we deployed to Baghdad in 2005.
One long year later, two days before we were set to go home, my humvee was hit by two improvised explosive devices. The bombs tore through the right side of my vehicle, killing my commander, and leaving the remaining four of us badly wounded. I was shipped from Baghdad, to Balad, to Landstuhl, Germany, and then finally to Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, DC.
A few days after arriving, my femoral artery blew during the early morning hours of October 31st. While being rushed to the operating room I lost two thirds of the blood in my body. Over the course of the fourteen hour surgery my heart stopped twice on the table. They eventually saved my life, but my limb was in even worse condition than before due to the tourniquet being on for so long.
I fought for two years and through dozens more surgeries to get some sort of normalcy out of what was left of my limb, but my efforts were futile. The doctors and I eventually made the decision to amputate. It was the only surgery I ever left with a smile on my face, as if a weight had been lifted. I fought for two more years through 4-5 hours of physical therapy a day, five days a week to get adapted to my new prosthetic. I medically retired from the Army in impeccable shape and with high hopes. Unfortunately, in focusing solely on my physical rehabilitation, I neglected the psychological effects of war.
I transitioned to WVU in Morgantown, WV, pledged Tau Kappa Epsilon, and tried as hard as I could to just be a normal college student. My PTSD and the lack of adequate medical/veteran support were having none of it. I sank into depression and self medicated with drugs and alcohol. I lost who I was and wondered, after losing my dream of a 20 year Army career, what exactly I would do next. After wandering aimlessly for a few years, it was apparent to me that veterans were not being given the necessary tools to transition to civilian life successfully. Meeting people was difficult and there were very few options for veterans to utilize that would stimulate friendship, and ultimately, allow communication barriers to be breached. After moving to Tampa, Florida, I co-founded the veteran community sports non profit, VETSports, with two other combat wounded veterans. It was our mission to change the way vets transitioned back to civilian life through organized team sports, community involvement, and leadership opportunities. We are currently in our third year of existence and we are continuing to expand into new regions to help as many veterans as possible! We most recently received a $30,000 grant from the Tampa Bay Lightning Foundation, and gifted another $20,000 to The Children's Home in Tampa.
After receiving an invite to shoot with photographer, Michael Stokes, I flew to LA in December of 2014, with incredible excitement. It was one of the best weekends of my life and to be a part of his creative process was a dream come true. I now busy myself with fitness/cover modeling, continued work as Brand Ambassador for VETSports, personal training with the absolutely amazing Tampa Sports Academy, and I co-wrote the novel, A Lover's Lament, with author KL Grayson. My first solo novel, Into the Nothing, will be released on June 21st!
Thank you all so very much, from the bottom of my heart, for joining me on this ride and for sharing your own stories, ideas, and concerns. I believe fully that we are all one and if we could just open our hearts and minds, and respect, understand, and care just a little bit more, the world would truly be a better place.