Page 898 - Total War on PTSD
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to the VA and said that they had a used hand-cycle that I could get for only $2,400 as compared to a stationary hand-cycle that keeps him indoors for $11,000. He needs the cheaper one and it is a lot better for him physically, emotionally and psychologically. Then they up and said no.
Well, Ride to Recovery, Project Hero and the Independence Fund, they sponsored me and got me a hand-cycle, and I did the Army Navy in 2015 where we went from West Point to Annapolis...it was 400 miles in five days. It was 60-80 miles a day and I was a guy who had never risen longer than 25 miles on any bike ride in my lifetime. I came back home and I felt so alive and so invigorated. I realized that I wanted to do more hand-cycling...and that I needed to cut some weight. I realized that swimming was a good way to lose weight so I started doing that too.
Then I realized that, once I was already doing cycling and swimming, why not do triathlons? So, I decided to take up running too...so I got a 'running' wheelchair. So, by the end of 2015 I went to the Challenge Athlete Foundation in Pensacola and did a mock triathlon, and I ended up liking it so much I ended up doing the New York City Triathlon in 2016, the Chicago Triathlon, and missed going to the Paralympics in Rio by only 90 seconds. I then decided to go into Biathlons instead and did the shooting. Then I starting getting the lone wolf attitude again...and my PTSD was acting up. I was kind of like, I don't need anybody...I can't rely on anybody...they don't understand.
My wife and the VA suggested a team sport...either basketball or softball. I got into both of them and did very well with wheelchair softball. Basketball not so much, because with my brain injury I don't have as much core awareness. You kind of have to 'read' where your opponent is going to be before they even go there. I would sometimes throw the ball to the opponent instead of my teammates. In 2015 I got Bronze on Wheelchair Softball. In 2016 we got Silver...and last year we got Gold. In March of 2018 I went out to Arizona to the USMES (United States
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