Hurt GI rouses, signs up for trials

Eye is on prize: Warrior Games

Specialist Samuel Scudder, a soldier in the Army National Guard who is competing in the 2015 Army Trials at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas. The trials determine which ill or injured Army athletes will move on to compete in the Department of Defense's 2015 Warrior Games. He injured his knee and suffered some nerve damage when he deployed with his unit to Kabul, Afghanistan last year.
Specialist Samuel Scudder, a soldier in the Army National Guard who is competing in the 2015 Army Trials at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas. The trials determine which ill or injured Army athletes will move on to compete in the Department of Defense's 2015 Warrior Games. He injured his knee and suffered some nerve damage when he deployed with his unit to Kabul, Afghanistan last year.

Arkansas National Guard Spc. Samuel Scudder returned from a deployment in Afghanistan last year with a knee injury, nerve damage and hearing loss.

When more than 100 other members of his unit were welcomed home the day before Thanksgiving at Fisher Armory in North Little Rock, Scudder remained at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas, on his way to a transition unit in Missouri.

At Fort Leonard Wood in the Missouri Ozarks, Scudder, 22, received medical care and help "readjusting to the culture change coming back from Afghanistan," he said.

Now, Scudder is competing in the 2015 Army Trials, attempting to qualify to be part of the Army's team in the Department of Defense's Warrior Games in June. The games bring together injured or ill service members and veterans from every branch of the military for an Olympic-style competition.

"I was kind of beat down because I was hurt," Scudder said during training sessions last week. "I've always been competitive. I enjoy the whole camaraderie that comes along with this and just being able to get out here and participate."

Scudder is from the small town of Tull in Grant County and graduated from Bauxite High School, where he was part of the football and track and field teams.

He joined the Marine Corps in 2010 and was stationed at Camp Pendleton in Southern California.

When his term in the Marines ended, Scudder said he decided to switch to the active-duty Army. His switch was denied because of an injury he had suffered to his knee while in the Marines, but he was able to join the Arkansas Army National Guard in 2012.

Once the games are over and he completes his transition at Fort Leonard Wood, Scudder said he wants to try again to enlist in the Army -- only this time he wants to become an Army emergency medical physician.

In July, Scudder and about 110 other soldiers in the Guard's 216th Military Police Company deployed to a post near Kabul, Afghanistan.

Scudder said he was walking on rocky terrain in Afghanistan when he went down on a knee, tearing cartilage. The tear led to plica syndrome, an inflammation of part of the knee.

He continued with the rest of the mission and returned stateside with the knee injury, nerve palsy in his left eye and hearing loss in his left ear.

"I'm walking with a limp but off crutches," Scudder said.

He wears a hearing aid and will undergo surgery on his knee later this year. In the Army Trials, he plans to wear a patch over his left eye during some of the competitions.

Scudder first heard of the Warrior Games while in rehabilitation at Fort Leonard Wood. He and six others in his transition unit traveled to Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada for a regional competition in late February.

Before they competed, Scudder had only a few weeks to practice the sports included in the games: hand-cycling, shooting, sitting volleyball, swimming, track and field, archery and wheelchair basketball.

"I went up to our occupational therapist last minute," Scudder said. "I really didn't have any time to train."

At regionals, he won third place in hand-cycling, 100-meter freestyle swimming, backstroke swimming and sitting volleyball. At the Army Trials, he'll compete in those events, as well as track and field, shooting and wheelchair basketball.

Starting last Sunday, the approximately 80 people competing in the Army Trials gathered at Fort Bliss to work with trainers, coaches and nutritionists. The trials start today and will continue through Thursday.

According to a news release from the U.S. Army Warrior Transition Command, some of the soldiers and veterans participating in the games suffer spinal-cord injuries, traumatic-brain injuries, visual impairment, serious illnesses and amputations.

"This represents something much bigger than a competition," Col. Chris Toner, commander of the Warrior Transition Command, said in the release. "The trials serve as a platform for wounded, ill and injured soldiers and veterans to showcase their phenomenal abilities and highlight the power of resilience and adaptive reconditioning."

"We believe events of this type provide a sense of purpose, community and improve their outlook and quality of life."

Scudder said he's been doing well in practice and is "planning on making the Army team." The Warrior Games will be held June 19-28 at the Marine Corps base in Quantico, Va.

"I'm sore, but it's worth it," Scudder said. "I thought my competitive and active life was over. It has helped me by proving that I can overcome and succeed, and that my injuries will not define how I will live the rest of my life or affect the quality of my life."

"It's showed me that your injury doesn't define who you are or who you become."

Metro on 03/29/2015

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