Warrior Games Ultimate Champion contender competes for resilience

Photo By EJ Hersom | Ultimate champion hopeful Sarah Evans, Team Air Force, relays the official torch to begin the 2013 Warrior Games at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo., May 11. From May 11-16, more than 200 wounded, ill and injured servicemembers and veterans from the U.S. Marines, Army, Air Force and Navy, as well as a team representing U.S. Special Operations Command and an international team representing the United Kingdom, will compete for the gold in track and field, shooting, swimming, cycling, archery, wheelchair basketball and sitting volleyball at the U.S. Olympic Training Center and U.S. Air Force Academy. The military service with the most medals will win the Chairman's Cup. Select athletes representing each military branch will compete in a pentathlon event to see who can be named the Ultimate Champion.  

COLORADO SPRINGS, CO, UNITED STATES

05.12.2013

Story by Sgt. Justin Boling 

Defense Media Activity - Marines

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.—She walks with two crutches, one leg and a smile.

Air Force Capt. Sarah Evans has traveled to compete in sporting events for the first time in the 2013 Warrior Games.

“I never was really much of an athlete before I lost my leg,” said Evans, a Shalimar, Fla., native. “It just appealed to me more than just doing physical therapy and going home and laying around.”

The Air Force finance officer was serving in Kabul, Afghanistan when she started having pain in her hip. After traveling to Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan she was diagnosed with bone cancer.

“I didn’t know I would lose my leg at that point,” said Evans. “When I finally got to San Antonio, my surgeon told me I could lose my leg.

“We tried chemotherapy, the mass had shrunk in size, but my chances still did not look good.”

Evans and her surgeon decided to amputate her left leg at the hip. According to Evans, she is glad she trusted her surgeon.

“There was a lot of shock initially,” said Evans. “ I knew one day all of this would be normal, well a new normal, and eventually it would be okay.”

Three weeks after the amputation, Evans began physical therapy and treatment at the Center for the Intrepid at Brooke Army Medical Center, Texas. The Center provides rehabilitation for military members who have sustained amputation, burns or limb loss.

“They understand that we do not just want to get up and walk,” said Evans. “We want to be super active.”

During a training event for a CFI min-marathon, Evans tried hand cycling for the first time.

“It was three weeks after surgery that I tried hand cycling,” Evans said. “I loved feeling the sun and wind.

“I was hooked and began trying and loving other sports.”

While recovering at the Center, Evans began to enjoy athletics.

“I always kept in shape and did well on physical fitness tests,” Evans said. “ I just did not enjoy sports and competition.”

Last year Evans could not participate, but she watched a video about the Warrior Games and decided to compete.

“I thought it was a great way to learn adaptive sports and build camaraderie,” she said.

Evans is not just competing in hand cycling at this year’s Warrior Games she will attempt to claim the title of ultimate champion for the Air Force. The team selected Evans though she originally only entered in two events.

“I am really excited to represent my team,” said Evans. “I know that it is all about having fun, but I still do not want to let anyone down.”

Ultimate champion competitors will compete to perform the best overall, but the competition itself may be the reward, she said.

“I don’t care about medals,” Evans added. “ I have made huge strides, and I just like getting better.”

• Date Taken: 05.12.2013
• Date Posted: 05.12.2013 15:06
• Story ID: 106808
• Location: COLORADO SPRINGS, CO, US
• Hometown: SHALIMAR, FL, US