Army vet inspires others through adaptive sports

LAND O’ LAKES, Fla. — From swimming to cycling to basketball, there’s an Army veteran in Land O’ Lakes who refuses to let his injuries slow him down.

George Vera wants to remind all veterans that this weekend isn’t just a celebration of their service but a celebration of the next chapter of their lives.

Vera used to train on a regular basis to run marathons, then he lost the use of his legs in combat, but the training hasn’t stopped.

Vera spent 24 years in the army, including five deployments to Afghanistan, the last of which he was severely injured back in 2015.

“I was shot four times, twice in my leg and twice in my back, one of the rounds hit my spine, which left me paralyzed from right above where my stomach is down,” said Vera.

When he finally woke up from a coma two months later there was only one thing on his mind.

“The doctors told me my spine had been shattered, but I was still thinking I would be able to walk, I remember telling them, ‘Oh I can try to do the Army 10 miler and the Marine Corps Marathon in a year,” said Vera.

It took him some serious soul-searching to realize that not only would he never walk again, but he’d never run another marathon. That’s when he was introduced to case worker Michelle Hall with Semper Fi & America’s Fund.

“Whenever we need anything, we’ll call her, and she takes care of it, or a lot of times she just calls to say, ‘Hey, how is everything going, do you need anything,’” said Vera.

The Fund gave Vera and his family the support and equipment to reclaim their passion for life and competition.

“Ok, I need to go to the gym, I’m going to work out, I’m going to hand cycle, play wheelchair basketball, swim, whatever I can think of to push me through that day to the next. That’s what I did,” said Vera.

“He’s come a long way, I’ve seen George in the Tampa VA where he’s been very, very sick, and he couldn’t get out of bed, and now to see him and his wonderful family, and he is doing such great things not only at home but out in the community as well,” said Hall.

Eventually, Vera returned to marathons, and he has the medals to prove it. He’s proud to be an adaptive athlete and hopes to inspire others.

“I think the biggest thing I would tell them is don’t let your injury define you as a person, you know, yeah I’m in a wheelchair, but that’s not where I want people to think of me, there’s George Vera the guy in the wheelchair, I’d rather them be, there is George Vera he does all these adaptive sports he doesn’t let anything slow him down,” said Vera.

For more information on Semper Fi & America’s Fund, go to TheFund.org.