U.S. Marine Veteran Paralyzed in Combat in Iraq Learns to Walk Again, 15 Years Later

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The story of a United States Marine injured in combat in Iraq, who finally found the help he needed to learn how to walk again, is lighting up the internet with its message of triumph over adversity.

James Crosby followed in his father’s footsteps by enlisting with the Marines, citing the 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center as his motivation to join the resistance.

Sadly, Crosby’s service was cut short.

According to Cola Daily, the Marine was hit by three 120-millimeter rockets just one month into deployment in Iraq in 2004. Two of his comrades were killed, and the devastating injuries that Crosby incurred left him wheelchair-bound and discharged from duty.

While learning to adjust to living back at home in the Greater Boston area with a life-changing disability, Crosby turned his attention toward campaigning for other injured veterans like himself.

After much effort, Crosby, who is employed by the Department of Veterans Affairs, succeeded in passing the Crosby-Puller Combat Wounds Compensation Act in 2015 with the help of Senator John Rockefeller. The bill finally allowed veterans injured in combat to access financial aid in order to seek rehabilitative support for their injuries.

After the successful inauguration of the bill, Crosby himself joined a nine-week program, Adaptive Training Foundation (ATF), in Carrollton, Texas. During this time, a dedicated team of rehabilitation professionals introduced the veteran to a series of exercises tailored to his abilities and mindful of his limitations.

Former NFL linebacker David Vobora founded the ATF program that Crosby attended, and manages to run the program completely free of charge for his clients.

During Crosby’s rehabilitation, the team posted a series of updates on social media, chronicling Crosby’s journey from his wheelchair back onto his own two feet. “You can do anything when Gaston is behind you whispering sweet nothings in your ear,” the team joked on Facebook beside a motivational photo of Crosby working hard in the ATF gym.

“Congratulations, sir,” read one supportive comment, “and thank you for your service to our country. Your perseverance and God’s grace accomplished the seemingly impossible!”

On Nov. 18, 2019, nearing the end of Crosby’s nine-week program, the ATF team posted another Facebook update: “Nothing like getting upright again to put a smile on your face,” they wrote beside a photo of Crosby beaming while using an anti-gravity treadmill.

After nine weeks of intense hard work and mental discipline, Crosby was gratefully reacquainted with a skill that he thought he had lost for good 15 years previously: Crosby had learned to walk again.

The veteran walked across the program’s graduation stage using only a walker, by himself, to the thunderous applause of the gathered crowd. Thirteen fellow veterans celebrated their own nine-week victories alongside him.

“You can do anything with the power of love,” Crosby reflected, speaking to Cola Daily. “It is the most powerful force you could ever feel.”

Since regaining his mobility, Crosby has become increasingly health-conscious, even moving away from a number of the prescription drugs that used to manage his pain and toward more natural, holistic remedies.

Chaga mushroom tea has become one of the veteran’s personal favorite remedies; as per Web MD, chaga has natural antioxidant properties and can even help boost the immune system.

Crosby’s campaigning didn’t end with the Crosby-Puller Act, either. The Marine veteran is also the co-founder of the non-profit American Infidels Veterans’ Motorcycle Club, a group dedicated to supporting members of the military and raising the profile of “the ideals and beliefs that founded this country.”