Throwback Thursday! Travis Mills Veteran/Quad Amputee

For our very first Throwback Thursday episode we celebrate the bravery of our men and women that have served in the United States Armed Services!  

In this episode we will discuss not just continuing life after a horrific injury, but excelling and living life to it's fullest, minus two arms and two legs.  On April 10, 2012, United States Army Staff Sergeant Travis Mills of the 82nd Airborne was critically injured on his third tour of duty in Afghanistan by an IED (improvised explosive device) while on patrol, losing portions of both legs and both arms.

In September 2013, Travis and his wife Kelsey founded the Travis Mills Foundation, a nonprofit organization, formed to benefit and assist post 9/11 veterans who have been injured in active duty or as a result of their service to our nation. The veteran and their families receive an all-inclusive, all-expenses paid, barrier-free vacation to Maine where they participate in adaptive activities, bond with other veteran families, and enjoy much-needed rest and relaxation in Maine’s great outdoors.

If you are in a giving mood this year, the Travis Mills Foundation is a great way to give back to injured Veterans!  (DONATE HERE)

TRANSCRIPT

PodcastDX-Quad_Amputee

 

Lita T  00:10

Hello and welcome to another episode of podcast dx. The show that brings you interviews with people just like you whose lives were forever changed by a medical diagnosis. I'm Lita

 

Ron  00:22

I'm Ron,

 

Jean  00:23

and I'm a pina colada.

 

Lita T  00:24

You're not a pina colada she's Jean Marie. Collectively we're the hosts of PodcastDX. On today's show we're speaking with Travis Mills. Travis, if you're not familiar with him by now is the quadruple amputee from an Afghanistan IED and we're going to hear more about his story in a little bit. And he also is running a foundation that provides R&R services more or less for other veterans that have been injured. Is that right Travis?

 

Travis  00:55

Yeah, absolutely it for physically injured and now we're moving towards all injuries.

 

Lita T  01:00

Great, great. Well, welcome to the show. Go ahead, Ron

 

Ron  01:05

Travis. Hi, this is Ron. Again. Thank you for joining us today on our show. First, I would like to start off by saying thank you for your service to our country.

 

Travis  01:15

Well, no, I appreciate it. Thank you so much. And I'm excited to be here. I'm looking forward to hanging out with you guys for a bit. Yeah!

 

Ron  01:21

 I read a bit about your injuries and your recovery. I gotta say, I am amazed by your determination and your tenacity. It seems like you've overcome a lot of challenges since April of 2012. Could you tell our listeners a little bit about that day? didn't it just start off as a regular day for you.

 

Travis  01:41

You know, it did we were on our, you know, deployment. I was supposed to be there for nine months as my third deployment. And we had a phone call come in from the village elder that there was some IEDs we had a checkout. So we put our gear on like normal. We went on patrol and try to help them out. And we went, you know, the same routes that we always would take not the same routes, the same general direction. And I had the guy in front of me with the Minesweeper and swept