Photo By Anna Eisenberg | Cara Hasting, doubling as Sgt. Hasting's wife and non-medical attendant (NMA), at his...... read more read more
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WEST POINT, N.Y. - Cara Hasting pulls her blond waves back in a loose, low bun. She stands by the pool, a few feet back from Lane one, watching Sgt. Scotty Hasting lap back and forth. Mrs. Hasting has played two roles for three of their four years of marriage: wife and non-medical attendant (NMA).
“’That morning something didn’t feel right,” said Mrs. Hasting of the day she got the call. “’Bear with me, ma’am,’ and then they read off what happened to her husband and where.” Sgt. Hasting was shot 10 times at a 10-foot range in Afghanistan in 2011, just months into his deployment. “I just wanted them to tell me he was alive,” she said.
The Hastings moved to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Maryland, where Sgt. Hasting recovered at the hospital’s Warrior Transition Unit (WTU). As part of the U.S. Army Wounded Warrior Program (AW2), Sgt. Hasting’s family became an integral part of his interdisciplinary team. Mrs. Hasting worked closely with his occupational and physical therapists and a passion sparked.
“Being with him and the others at the WTU, I knew I had a passion for working with wounded Soldiers. That’s my goal,” said Mrs. Hasting, who plans to pursue a degree in occupational therapy. “He is my inspiration,” she added of her husband.
As he recovered, Sgt. Hasting re-discovered a passion: sports. Athletic before sustaining his injuries, Sgt. Hasting’s competitive spirit came back after he and his Family moved to Fort Riley, Kansas, about eight months after first entering the WTU. He is now a competitor in the 2014 U.S. Army Warrior Trials, hoping to be selected for the 2014 Warrior Games. The Warrior Games, a joint effort between the Department of Defense and the U.S. Paralympics Military Committee, is a service-wide event for wounded, ill and injured Soldiers and veterans.
Of his participation in the Army Warrior Trials, Mrs. Hasting is happy her husband is involved. “It’s giving him a little bit of himself back,” she said.
Mrs. Hasting stands by the pool as her husband jumps in with the other wounded, ill and injured athletes.
“To me, they were heroes when they signed on the dotted line,” she said, “but this is amazing.”
| Date Taken: | 06.10.2014 |
| Date Posted: | 06.13.2014 19:07 |
| Story ID: | 133092 |
| Location: | WEST POINT, NEW YORK, US |
| Hometown: | HEBRON, KENTUCKY, US |
| Web Views: | 458 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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