‘Focus On Ability’

Focus on Ability Spotlight – Getting on with life

By Lance Cpl. Chelsea Flowers
Photos by Cpl. Daniel Wetzel/Lance Cpl. Chelsea Flowers

Veteran Sgt. Robert “Bobby” Norman first met his wife, Melissa, when they were just kids while playing baseball with her older brother.

They dated on and off for years while Norman, a Shawnee, Okla., native, served in the Marine Corps as an infantryman from 1997 until 2001.

Norman left the Corps in 2001 to pursue his dream of playing college baseball, with plans to enter Officer Candidate School at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Va., in February 2008.

But all those plans changed when Norman got in a motorcycle accident in 2007 that left him with a broken back, three broken ribs and a paralyzed left arm.

Suddenly, the Marine veteran, baseball player, and fire and rescue volunteer found himself unable to do many of the things he had once loved.

“It’s either roll over and die or get on with life,” Norman said. “It wasn’t long after that I realized I was awarded a second chance. It may be tougher to do the everyday things, but at least I can.”

So, continuing his life as best as he could was just what Norman decided to do.

The first thing Norman did was reunite with the woman he had loved most of his life. When Norman asked Melissa to marry him, he held up his lifeless left arm and said, “This is how it’s going to be.”

“It didn’t in any way change how I felt about him,” Melissa said. “I mean, I’ve been in love with that boy since I was like 14. I met him when I was eight and decided I was going to marry him after our first date when I was 17. He was just minus an arm. It didn’t change who he was as far as his personality and his heart.”

In September 2009, Norman faced a whole new adjustment when Melissa gave birth to their daughter, Taelyr.

Even with only one functioning arm, being a dad came naturally to Norman. After eight weeks, Melissa returned to work and Norman stayed home for several months to take care of Taelyr. That meant making bottles, doing laundry and changing diapers – all with one arm. If at first Norman couldn’t do it, he’d figure out a way to do it, Melissa said.

Then in August 2011, since limb salvage attempts failed, doctors amputated Norman’s arm and fused his humerus to his scapula.

“After the amputation I was really down in the dumps for two or three months, and it wasn’t until after I talked to the sports people that I really began to pull myself out of it,” Norman said. “The spirit of competition and the camaraderie of being back with a bunch of Marines has been phenomenal as far as my rehabilitation goes.”

At the Marine Corps Trials at Camp Pendleton, Calif., in March and the Warrior Games this past week, Norman competed in both track and swimming competitions with two gold and one bronze medal in swimming.

Now Norman is even more motivated to continue to live his life to the fullest.

“I want to work with kids and maybe one day I’ll be where I can work with disabled kids or wounded warriors,” Norman said.

Until then, when Norman’s not maintaining the sports facilities at Oklahoma Baptist University, he can be found on his farm in Oklahoma riding horses with Taelyr and Melissa and tinkering on cars.

Focus On Ability Spotlight – Captain Disbro

Capt. Jonathan Disbro knows what it means to focus on his abilities.  After being wounded in Iraq in 2004, he endured 18 surgeries on his foot and ankle before losing his leg below the knee.  He has discovered a new way to “Stay in the Fight”– as the 2012 Warrior Games “Ultimate Champion.”

Competition for the Ultimate Champion is limited to two competitors from each service, competing in the Warrior Pentathlon.  The Pentathlon is a series of five sports—50-meter swim, 100-meter track, 30 kilometer (18-mile) cycling, shot-put and a 10-meter air rifle prone events— with the winner being named the all-around top athlete, Ultimate Champion.

This was Captain Disbro’s third trip to the Warrior Games, and the second as the Ultimate Champion.

Focus On Ability Spotlight – Museum to unveil first-ever exhibit featuring wounded Marines

The National Museum of the Marine Corps, Quantico, VA unveiled their latest traveling exhibit on Friday, 20 Jan. The exhibit, titled “Focus on Ability: Celebrating Our Wounded, Ill and Injured Marines’ Achievements,” features wounded, ill and injured Marines thriving as they continue on their journey to recovery.

“This exhibit captures the fighting spirit of our wounded, ill and injured Marines,” said Col. John L. Mayer, commanding officer of the Wounded Warrior Regiment. “We are looking forward to the public being able to see the outstanding accomplishments of our Marines throughout the Corps as they strengthen their mind, body, spirit and family.”

The exhibit features action photos of Marines and Sailors supported by the Regiment participating in Marine Corps mission related activities and recreational endeavors such as horsemanship, and adaptive sports . It also includes original art work created by wounded warriors. The WWR staff designed the exhibit, which emphasizes a constant goal for Marines in recovery: focus on ability.

“We wanted to showcase what our Marines are doing as they move through the recovery, rehabilitation and reintegration phases,” said April Peterson, the exhibit project manager and deputy program manager of the Regiment’s Recovery Care Coordination program. “These photos and art pieces are a testament that our Marines are very much still in the fight.”

The National Museum of the Marine Corps is a lasting tribute to U.S. Marines–past, present, and future. Situated on a 135-acre site adjacent to Marine Corps Base Quantico and under the command of Marine Corps University, the museum’s soaring design evokes the image of the flag-raisers of Iwo Jima and beckons visitors to this 120,000-square-foot structure. World-class interactive exhibits using the most innovative technology surround visitors with irreplaceable artifacts and immerse them in the sights and sounds of Marines in action.

Focus On Ability Spotlight – Marine stays on “WAR-path”

First lieutenant Blake Hogan was disappointed when he learned he would not be able to lead Marines as he had dreamed.  As a student training at The Basic School in Quantico, Va., Hogan injured his foot.  This injury, which will not heal, has left him pending medical separation from the Marine Corps.  But Hogan put his best foot forward, so to speak.

While on medical hold, Hogan sought out the opportunity to work in the Wounded Warrior Regiment supporting wounded, ill and injured Marines.  He soon found himself working in a program the Regiment operates, the Warrior Athlete Reconditioning program, or WAR-P.

The WAR program provides opportunities for Marines to engage in both physical and cognitive activities outside the traditional therapy setting. Activities are individualized to the Marines’ needs and encompass activities from aquatic training to yoga. The program provides opportunities for Marines to train as athletes while increasing strength, so they can continue with military service or develop physical activities to ensure a healthy life after active duty service.

After brief conversation with Hogan, the commanding officer, Col. John Mayer, discovered that Hogan was familiar with equine activities. That’s all it took for Hogan to be assigned the duty of standing up an equine program in the WWR.

Through hard work and networking, Hogan was able to lay the groundwork to get wounded, ill and injured Marines on horseback. Hogan’s work cleared a path for Marines to participate in equine activities as they recondition their minds, bodies and spirits.

“I missed my chance to serve my Marines in combat.  But, I did not miss my chance to make a difference.  While working for the Wounded Warrior Regiment I redeemed my esprit de Corps.  While serving wounded Marines my greater purpose was fulfilled,” said Hogan.

Hogan feels that experience contributed greatly to his next step, participation in Operation Warfighter.  OWF is a DoD program that places wounded, ill and injured Marines in federal internships.  Through this program, Hogan landed an internship with Wounded Warrior Care and Transition Policy with the Warrior Athlete Reconditioning program.

Do you know of a wounded, ill or injured Marine that has improvised, adapted, and overcome their disability to be successful?  We’re looking for stories of Marines who have surpassed their, or others’, expectations in any of our lines of operation – Medical, Mind, Body, Spirit or Family.  If you know of someone we should highlight, please let us know.  You can nominate them here (link to contact form) or on our Facebook page.