using my story below ccome up with a speed about

building empathy and understanding personal biases and how people over come life altering injuries, help individuals overcome biases around disabilities

my story

My life was turned upside down when I suffered life-altering injuries and severe mental health problems following two separate accidents after returning from Army service in Afghanistan.

Without the invaluable support of Maine-based Operation ReBoot Outdoors that helps service men and women reboot their lives through nature and the outdoors, I have to admit that I might not be here today...

This non-profit organization takes veterans, law enforcement officers (LEOs) and active duty service members hunting and fishing for free, helping them to heal and find a new sense of purpose. If it were not for ReBoot, I would have been among the 22 veterans who take their own lives each day.

My story begins soon after I returned from Afghanistan. I was in a sledding accident at the end of 2014, which left me with broken bones in my feet and nerve and muscle damage throughout my body to the point I needed a walker.

In early 2015, I was involved in a head-on car accident. My ankles were bent inwards; my legs were bowing outwards. I had Bioness nerve stimulators on my calves to shock me and to try to stimulate the muscles and I had to use Canadian crutches or a wheelchair to get around. Eventually, I made the tough decision to have my legs amputated to have a better quality of life.

Before discovering Operation ReBoot Outdoors, I was in a very dark place. Many family members and friends thought they were going to attend my funeral - it was just a question of when.

I felt lost and tossed to the side once I was discharged from the army. Back home, I stopped taking care of myself. I was not only drinking myself to death, but also felt suicidal. I was in and out of the hospital psychiatric ward and was constantly snapping at everyone.

At one stage, I fell in with the wrong group of people. I was on regular meds, narcotics, marijuana, cocaine, liquor and alcohol every day. And yes, I was on the road to becoming 'one of the 22'...

Then Operation ReBoot Outdoors found me. The day I pulled into their driveway, I felt like part of the family. During that first week, I rediscovered the military camaraderie I thought I'd lost forever. And I also learned about the healing and therapeutic power that ReBoot has to offer through mutal trust and friendship, hunting, fishing, and becoming at one with nature.

To this day, not one person has held my physical limitations or mental health issues against me. Instead, ReBootPresident Dan Waite and his team have showed me that they are always willing to help. Dan was forever picking me up and throwing me on his shoulder to carry me two hundred yards or more into the woods so I could hunt.

ReBoot showed me that I can still do what I love and that no matter what I'm going through, I can get through it. To this day, I believe that having my legs amputated for a better quality of life was the best decision ever: I'm running, swimming, and enjoying all the therapeutic activities that nature has to offer; I'm living my best life possible!

When I say ReBootsaved my life, I truly mean it. My journey is proof that this organization truly helps veterans, active duty service members and LEOs by taking positive action to help lower the dreadful statistic of 22 veteran suicides per day.

My personal 'reboot' now is seeing the smiles and excitement of others as they catch a fish or harvest an animal, because I know in that moment they are feeling what I did when I first came to ReBoot.