Planning on racing the Ironman 70.3 Hawaii this May, and feeling a bit short on confidence? Maybe you can borrow some from Oscar "Oz" Sanchez. Sanchez will be racing his first Ironman 70.3 Hawaii, and he'll be doing so without the use of his legs, but he's not entertaining any doubt about his ability to compete.
Perhaps this confidence comes from experience. From the experience of powering through the handcycle time trial in the 2008 Summer Paralympics Games in Beijing to take the Gold, while also racking up a Bronze medal in the road race.
Or from the experience of being a member of a Marine Reconnaissance unit. Or from the experience of surviving a motorcycle crash in 2001 that left Sanchez with an injured spinal cord and partial paralysis below the waist.
Perhaps it comes from the experience of making his way through the dark days that followed the injury. Or from the experience of fighting back from that place of despair, earning a college degree and propelling himself forward to become one of the top handcyclists in the world.
Or maybe it comes from the knowledge that he'll start race day on May 30th as a member of a larger team, a team of physically challenged athletes converging on Hawaii's Kohala Coast to compete in Ironman 70.3 Hawaii as part of Operation Rebound.
Operation Rebound provides resources, mentorship programs and sports opportunities to military personnel and first responders who have suffered permanent physical injuries in the line of duty. For an experienced athlete like Sanchez, with his injury rehabilitation behind him, Operation Rebound helps him stay active in the sport that is now so much a part of his life. It also allows him to mentor men and women who are still recovering from traumatic injuries, still feeling their way forward.
One individual who has found new footing through Operation Rebound is Sam Cila. A native New Yorker, Cila signed up for the New York National Guard following the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center. Deployed to Iraq with his Guard unit, he was wounded by an IED blast on July 4, 2005. Cila has undergone more than 40 surgeries since then. He has had his left hand amputated and still suffers a loss of mobility to his left arm.
When Cila first got involved with Operation Rebound, he says he was feeling lost, not sure "who I was or what I was going to do." In the military, Cila was part of a team. His injury not only wreaked havoc with his body, but it pulled him from his unit, taking away his identity as one integral piece of a larger, cohesive whole.
Cila says he's found new cohesion and a new mission through Operation Rebound. He's found a team of athletes to race with who understand the challenges of healing and who encourage him to keep taking steps to reinvent a healthy life. At the same time, Cila sees a larger purpose behind his own recovery and his decision to participate in triathlon – he can serve as an example of what is possible to others moving along the same path.
Cila's got a message for those individuals: "This is not the end of the road. There are resources and help. You can regain the active lifestyle you were used to. Even if you're missing a limb, or suffering from a brain injury or from PTSD [post-traumatic stress disorder], you can still be active." For Cila, there couldn't be better motivation to stay active in his sport. "Every day," says Cila, "I can't wait to train. I can't wait to go to the events."
Operation Rebound also has a place for athlete Chris Chandler. Deployed to Afghanistan as a Marine at the start of the war, Chandler stepped on a landmine in December 2001 and lost his lower left leg. Chandler, who grew up active, says he knew that it was never a question of when he would become active again, but only on what timeline. Chandler remained in the Marine Corps, completed basic airborne school, and was deployed three times to Iraq.
Chandler says he was "very fortunate" to have help and support throughout his recovery process. He was already racing in running and triathlon when he joined Operation Rebound. Now he has a greater opportunity to race, train and work with other military and former military personnel. Chandler is looking forward to racing Ironman 70.3 Hawaii for a host of reasons, including that he may try to qualify for the Ford Ironman World Championship in 2010. He's interested in getting a taste of racing in Big Island conditions and checking out a portion of the World Championship bike course.
Chandler is as committed to his fellow military personnel as he is to his training. He wants injured military personnel to know that they still have options. He hopes his personal story and his racing serve as an example to other injured military personnel that "you can still do what you want to do. You still have a choice. Even if it's just riding your bike to the beach on a Sunday afternoon."
These determined athletes are helped out by people like Peter Harsch, a nine-time Ironman finisher who currently works with the Navy Medical Center in San Diego as Director of Prosthetics, C-5 Unit. Harsch has competed three times already in the Ironman 70.3 Hawaii. He says he's always enjoyed the race and so, when he began to plan his fourth visit, he decided to ask some of the athletes participating in Operation Rebound to come along. He knows that injured military personnel returning from Iraq and Afghanistan are used to active lifestyles, and he sees triathlon as a great way for them to regain that active, healthy way of life.
Like any other triathlete planning for race day, the triathletes participating in Operation Rebound are looking forward to the beautiful setting of the Ironman 70.3 Hawaii. They're also prepared to lay it all on the line – to prove their athletic commitment and ability to themselves, to their teammates, and to anyone else who may be watching.
And they do hope that others will be watching, particularly those who are learning to live with severe injuries. Paralympian Gold Medalist Sanchez still recalls the dark hours, the "loss of hope" that followed his spinal cord injury. "If I can spare anybody even a slight portion of that, that makes it all worthwhile." His message to those struggling with physical and mental injuries: "there are no limits."
Written by Dawn Henry dawn@dawnhenry.net