Photo By Petty Officer 1st Class William Phillips | Army Spc. Shealynn Casserly competes in the seated discus during the Warrior Games...... read more read more
Before that happened though, Morris wanted to alleviate her mother’s concerns for her well-being so she decided to train for and compete in the 2016 Warrior Games. Morris, who was injured in 2013 after taking indirect fire from two rocket-propelled grenades, has known that her leg would be amputated, but, she said her mother wanted the doctors to try everything first.
“It wasn’t an easy decision for me,” Morris said. “I think the part that I struggled with most was my mom dealing with it because she’s so much more emotional than me, so when she sees all the amputees and all the different stuff they can do and how they bounce back – I’m not going to say it made it easier, but it put her a little more at ease knowing that I’m going to be okay.”
Morris was one of three Warrior Transition Brigade (WTB) Soldiers who competed at the 2016 Warrior Games at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, New York in June. WTB Soldiers, Army Spc. David Snipes and Army Spc. Shealynn Casserly, also competed in several events.
Bryce Doody, WTB Army adaptive sports coordinator, said the three athletes did a great job at the Warrior Games and took home several medals between them.
Morris, 27, earned gold medals in wheelchair basketball, seated shot put and discus and a bronze medal in the seated volleyball.
Morris wasn’t always interested in participating in adaptive sports. She recalls when she first arrived at the medical center she would be invited to play but declined several opportunities.
“I was in denial when I first got injured,” Morris said. “I didn’t talk to a lot of people. I stayed by myself and stayed in my room. For the first year they tried to get me to do sports and I did not. I had a lot of anger built up and I was really depressed.”
Eventually, she warmed up to the idea to try wheelchair basketball, which sport she said has helped her find her new normal.
“It really helped me because I’m around other people who are going through the same thing,” she said. “When you do adaptive sports it takes you away from the reality of things – whether it is for the moment or a couple of hours or whatever the case may be. It allows you to get that sense of relief from everything that is going on around you when you’re playing or competing.”
For those wounded, ill and injured service members thinking about adaptive sports, Miller encourages them to go for it.
“It can be something that they really like,” she said. “You don’t know what you’re good at until you try. Yes, it’s something new, but everything you try is something new.”
She plans to continue playing adaptive sports even after she is released from active-duty status.
This was the first Warrior Games for Snipes, 27, who earned five bronze medals, two silver and one gold during the competition.
His gold medal was in cycling, which was the sport he focused most on during his training, he said. He trained with the Ride 2 Recovery program, which also allowed him use of a recumbent bicycle for the competition. One of the training rides he went on was a 480 mile bike ride across Texas.
The competitiveness of adaptive sports, and in particular training for the Warrior Games is something that helped drive Snipes to become active after he was hit by a car riding his motorcycle in 2014. The accident left him without much use of his left arm.
“Initially, I had a surgery within a month of coming to (WRNMMC) and I was bedridden for a little while,” Snipes said. “Honestly, I just got lazy and blew up – I gained 40 to 50 pounds – and I started missing being active.”
The first adaptive sport he tried out was archery, which he said made him excited because he was able to shoot again. After that he tried cycling and then he started participating in more and more sports, saying that he wanted to try every event he could at the Warrior Games regional trials. In addition to cycling, he competed in track, shotput and discus.
Getting back in shape became a form of therapy for Snipes.
“It was all around good for me and my health,” Snipes said. “As crazy as exhausting yourself for therapy sounds, it’s therapeutic.”
Competing in the games was a great experience because he got to see how all his training paid off, but more importantly, he was able to meet people in a similar situation as him. He said he met veterans with similar injuries and they were able to share what has helped them and also things to expect from the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Snipes has his eyes set on next year’s Warrior Games in Chicago, but right now he’s more focused on completing the medical evaluation board process, helping his fiancée plan their November wedding and getting enrolled in school.
“I plan on going to trials next year,” he said.
| Date Taken: | 07.22.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 07.22.2016 08:40 |
| Story ID: | 204698 |
| Location: | BETHESDA, MD, US |
| Web Views: | 86 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
This work, Warrior Games Help WTB Athletes With Recovery, by Andrew Damstedt, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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