Air Force veteran uses sports to adapt and overcome

JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-RANDOLPH, TX, UNITED STATES

01.28.2015

Story by Senior Airman David Cooper 

3d Audiovisual Squadron

JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-RANDOLPH, Texas - “I suffered a traumatic brain injury and shrapnel hit my ankle.”

Staff Sgt. Melissa Gonzalez, a medically retired veteran, was a member of the 60th Security Forces Squadron at Travis Air Force Base, Calif., and was thrown from her team’s Humvee when they struck an improvised explosive device while deployed to Bagram, Afghanistan, in 2009.

Gonzalez was one of many veterans and service members who had the opportunity to travel to JBSA-Randolph, Texas, for the Air Force Warrior and Survivor Care Division Adaptive Sports and Reconditioning Camp. Service members partook in different sporting events, such as track and field, wheel chair basketball, archery and swimming, to help them recover from injuries or illnesses sustained both on duty and off duty.

“I’m trying to find a new norm,” said Gonzalez. “I’ve never been to a camp like this where I can still participate in almost all of the events, while overcoming my physical disabilities.”

“It’s motivated me to continue reaching out to find places to swim and find more adaptive equipment, so that I can train and do more physical activities,” says Gonzalez.

Whether it’s another wounded warrior, friend, family member, even a pet, the athletes all have someone who is there to support them and push them to get to that next plateau.

“You’re not judged for having any disability or limitations in any way. We have a back-to-back concept where we help each other and motivate each other to keep pushing.”

Through all of the hard work and dedication these individuals have put forth, competing in these trials and competing at wounded warrior events is just one more step into finding their “new norm.”

• Date Taken: 01.28.2015
• Date Posted: 01.29.2015 12:35
• Story ID: 153033
• Location: JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-RANDOLPH, TX, US