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Top War Fighters Unite At Warrior Games
(May 31, 2011) | 
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Sgt. 1st Class Christopher Livesay of special operations competes in an indoor recurve archery competition May 18 during the 2011 Warrior Games at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. Livesay is assigned to the World Class Athlete Program at Fort Carson. The soldier says athletic events help wounded warriors “see what they can still achieve.” |
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FORT CARSON, Colo. (5/26/2011) — “The worst thing
you can do to a warrior is take him out of his warrior tribe,” said Sgt.
1st Class Christopher Livesay of Dallas, Texas, a leg amputee and former
Special Forces medical sergeant.
Competitions keep wounded
warriors recovering by fueling their fighting spirit, said Livesay, who
united with 17 other expert war fighters to form the first special
operations team to compete in the Warrior Games, a joint effort by the
Department of Defense and U.S. Olympic Committee.
About 200
veterans of war participated in the second annual Warrior Games May
16-21 in Colorado Springs. Soldiers, airmen, Marines, sailors and Coast
guardsmen joined service-affiliated athletic teams to overcome limb
amputation or dysfunction, spinal cord injury, traumatic brain injury
and post-traumatic stress disorder.
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Livesay initially registered
with the Army. However, two months before the games began, 20 slots were
allocated for a new special operations team. He detached from his
service connection to represent the military's elite, such as the Green
Berets, Navy SEALs and Air Force Combat Controllers.
“We've got
guys who are natural athletes and most of the guys are Type-A
personalities,” said Livesay, describing the Warrior Games' inaugural
special operations team.
Livesay is assigned to the World Class
Athlete Program at Fort Carson. The Soldier says athletic events help
wounded warriors “see what they can still achieve.”
“I've spent
half my [Army] career on one leg,” said Livesay. Since becoming an
amputee eight years ago, he has earned the Army Pathfinder Badge and
continues to skydive from planes.
“I'm not disabled. There are
people with two legs who can't do what I do — there are people who would
have quit a long time ago.”
The soldier enlisted in the Army in 1991, as a North Lamar High
School football quarterback and track athlete in Paris, Texas, northeast
of Dallas. He was raised within a family of highly-decorated Army
veterans — his grandfather landed in Normandy during World War II and
his father served three tours in Vietnam.
On April 7, 2003, the
Green Beret was pinned down in a brutal ambush in southern Baghdad.
Automatic rifle bullets and rocket-propelled grenades seemed to arrive
from all sides, he said. A 7.62 mm bullet ultimately tore into his left
knee, severing a major artery.
Livesay took cover beneath a
bridge, where another soldier attempted to keep pressure on his wound.
Twenty minutes later, a tank penetrated the intense gun battle and
transported him to a medevac helicopter. He was treated for massive
blood and fluid losses.
Right after surgeons restored blood flow
inside his lower left leg, the situation got worse. A deadly bacterium
had slipped into his wound in Iraq. Army physicians at Walter Reed Army
Medical Center in Washington, D.C., rushed to remove his infected limb,
severing it two inches above his knee.
“I was about a day from
being dead,” said Livesay. “It's a miracle that I survived the
battlefield.”
Livesay has transitioned his warrior spirit from
securing combat zones to earning national rankings in rowing and sitting
volleyball. His sights are currently set on representing the United
States in the Paralympic Games.
“The level of competition here
is higher than I expected — the natural rivalry between the branches is
definitely amped up,” said Livesay, regarding the Warrior Games. “If you
come here thinking you're just going to have a good time and
participate, you're going to get embarrassed.” |
Special operations compete in a sitting volleyball game against
the Marine Corps May 17 during the 2011 Warrior Games at the Olympic
Training Center in Colorado Springs. A fierce fight to medal
surfaced within service-orientated rivalries surrounded by a resolve
to overcome combat-related disabilities and injuries. |
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Livesay competed
in archery, swimming and sitting volleyball during the Warrior Games.
Other events included track and field, shooting relays, wheelchair
basketball and cycling. He didn't medal until the final day, when
special operations defeated the Navy and Coast Guard in volleyball.
“Nobody expected us to win a match since we were a team thrown
together at the last minute,” he said, immediately after three
tightly-scored sets earned them the bronze medal. “But we were only one
game out from competing for gold.”
Livesay hopes to compete in
the ultimate champion category at the 2012 Warrior Games. He was
originally scouted for the ultimate champion events this year, but an
imbalance of involvement elsewhere caused special operations to drop
out.
“The Warrior Games are first class all the way,” he said.
“They spare no expenses — the best coaches and best gear, the clothing
to compete in and the equipment to compete with. As Soldiers, we don't
always get the red carpet rolled out, but here we're getting the best.”
“They went the extra mile to make sure we're the best we can be.” | |
Article and photos by Dustin Senger
Fort Carson Public Affairs Office
Copyright 2011
Provided
through DVIDS
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