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| Afghanistan |
| Yes, He's Hardcore |
| 2011-02-25 |
| America’s most wounded soldier to return to combat is going back to the front line to serve his country once more. Captain D.J. Skelton will take charge of 192 men from his previous unit and fight in the dangerous plains of Southern Afghanistan. Friends said his achievement should have been physically impossible but he pushed through the pain because of his ‘warrior spirit’. The inspirational story marks the end of a seven-year nightmare after Capt Skelton, 33, was blown up by rocket-propelled grenades in the Iraqi city of Fallujah in 2004. All he remembers is ‘screaming the whole time’ and ‘wanting to die’ then waking up at Walter Reed Army Hospital in Washington D.C. His injuries were horrific. Shrapnel had gone through his right cheek and torn apart his jaw and the roof of his mouth. He had also been shot in the chest and had a ‘shrapnel tunnel’ through his body. It has taken six years and more than 60 surgeries for him to recover but he still has a missing left eye, only has partial use of his left arm and limited use of his left ankle. The roof of his mouth has gone and he cannot eat or drink without a custom prosthetic. A life-long rock climber, Skelton re-learned how to rock climb after combat injuries shattered his left arm. He has since hosted a rock-climbing clinic for other amputees. He has taught himself Chinese Mandarin at a language school, graduated from West Point military academy in New York where he allegedly illegally jumped off a 900-ft high bridge in a daredevil stunt. His other achievements include completing 465 gruelling hours of ‘punishment tours’, which is one hour of walking back and forth with a rifle, and personally body-piercing the entire women's soccer team. ‘I can either dwell on what happened and be miserable and pissy and complain or I can look at what I do have left and figure out how to make the most of my new life... how to make what I have work while always looking for creative ways to make up the difference.’ |
| Posted by: Anonymoose |
| #4 |
| Posted by: Mitch H. 2011-02-25 15:41 |
| #3 |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2011-02-25 15:18 |
| #2 |
| Posted by: Pollyandrew 2011-02-25 14:37 |
| #1 |
| Posted by: Steven 2011-02-25 13:32 |