June 28th 2005 was a life-changing day for me. The day started out the same as any other for me on the farm. Feeding cows and moving sprinkler pipe. When me and a coworker had finished and were starting to head home we got into a rather serious motorcycle/ 4 wheeler wreck.
I hit his 4 wheeler on my motorcycle going much faster than I should have. When I hit his four-wheeler the rim of my front tire sandwiched his foot crushing all the bones. My handlebars tweaked and punched a hole into his thigh. As for me, I fractured my skull in multiple places, broke my pelvis, and also my clavicle. I spent 3 months in the hospital. They had to remove 40% of my skull to allow the brain to swell. One of the breaks in the skull severed the nerves that control all the facial muscles on the right side of my face. I also lost hearing in my ear and most of the sight in my right eye.
It took the next two years of surgeries and therapy before I was out of the woods. I spent the majority of my time in high school and the first couple years of college feeling sorry for myself. I was angry at God for allowing something so life-changing to happen to a young boy of 14. I spend most of my time angry at the world. I would socially distance myself from my family and peers. One day while I was at work, I overheard a few people talking about these badass Navy SEALS and there was a book about them called Lone Survivor.
To be honest I had never even heard of a Navy SEAL and I was curious to read about them. The next day, I went out and bought the book so I could read it myself. Once I started the book, I couldn’t put it down. I read the book in two days. After finishing the book, I decided to make some changes to my life. Instead of being mad I tried to see what I could learn from the situation.
Now 16 years later I have become a licensed electrician and a father of 3 kids. I am competing in long-range shooting and spend as much time as I can with my wife and kids. I am no longer mad at God for what happened and thank him for the lessons that he gave me through the situation.
I want to say thank you to you Marcus and Morgan for your service. I would like to thank all service members and all first responders. You guys are the real heroes. Thank you for sharing your story, Marcus, you really helped me turn my life around and become a better me.