I met the most inspiring young mad today.

papa3x
papa3x Posts: 286
in Motivation and Support
LOL, that should be "man".


So I was at the YMCA with my kids. They were taking a class and I was walking around the track when I ran into an old friend. He was chatting with a young guy. My friend introduced me to the young guy. He is a veteran from the Iraq war. He was missing one hand, and his right leg from the knee on down.

So here I am, just about crying to myself over how much my legs and hips still hurt from my 1st kettlebell class yesterday. I had been walking at about a 2.5 MPH pace, which was about the best I could do considering the pain. Anyway, to make this shorter, the young guy was training for a 10K run. And he had the absolute best attitude... so when I said goodbye I was laughing myself for throwing my own pity party.

So I started to leave and I passed a room with all the elliptical trainers.. I proceeded to jump on one and do 32 minutes at a decent clip.... I was going to go further but it felt like my hip was about to pop out of place, so I stopped. I had almost no pain until near the end of the workout.

It was probably a really dumb thing to do as I was still trying to recover from kettlebell, but the guy just pumped me up.

Replies

  • _Bob_
    _Bob_ Posts: 1,487 Member
    I met a guy at the gym that was missing both his legs below his knees. He runs marathons now because some doctor told him he would be confined to wheel chair for the rest of his life. so he went and had some legs made for him and is now proving that doctor wrong.

    love hearing stories like this one, thanks for sharing.
  • tonyabw
    tonyabw Posts: 17
    Great story - thanks for sharing!
  • mussmom
    mussmom Posts: 362 Member
    Thanks for the motivation! I often think of these strong people when I feel sore or like I don't want towork out. I tell myself: "run for those who can't". How would it be to be confined to a wheelchair and not be able to work out?
  • OlibecaMom
    OlibecaMom Posts: 78
    Thanks for sharing. Those are the good kicks in the *kitten* that we can all benefit from!
  • DiannaMoorer
    DiannaMoorer Posts: 783 Member
    Wonderful story!!! And kudos to you for the extra workout time!
  • dad040859
    dad040859 Posts: 66
    Thanks, my friend...we tend to forget how our struggles can often pale in comparison to others. Good for you, and good for him!
  • theOtherAtlantaPiper
    theOtherAtlantaPiper Posts: 6 Member
    papa3x, thanks for the story. It was very inspiring. And if you see him again, thank him for serving our country.
  • Mymy101
    Mymy101 Posts: 23 Member
    Isn't it amazing how we take things for granted. I used to always take the lift to my office which is on the third floor of the building. That's tillI I thought about how lucky I am to have two perfectly healthy legs. It's been stairs ever since!
  • SkyPixie
    SkyPixie Posts: 224
    I've met a few Afghanistan vetrans through some activities we have done in the past with flying for disabled servicemen and I never cease to be humbled by their attitude.

    They guy that sticks in my mind the most had lost both legs ..he went flying with my husband in our plane and after an hour came back down and announced he was applying for a disabled flying scholorship no matter how badly injured these guys are their determination is amazing .. there is nothing that they believe they can't do so many of us me included could learn a lesson or two from them thats for sure !
  • TynkEMT
    TynkEMT Posts: 19 Member
    Papa3x, thanks for the inspirational moment.

    Ericka:flowerforyou: :tongue:

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