OXNARD, Calif. -- A severely injured sailor has persevered in the face of a devastating loss, and he now looks forward to competing in the upcoming 2017 Department of Defense Warrior Games in Chicago.
In spring 2015, during a beautiful sunny afternoon in Rota, Spain, Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Alan Thomas, a construction electrician, was heading back to work from lunch when the unthinkable happened.
As Thomas was riding his Honda CBR1000 motorcycle, he unexpectedly met a car driving on his side of the road. He was thrown from his bike and instantly knocked unconscious.
When Thomas came to, he was lying in the road with his lower right leg almost severed.
"I figured I just broke my leg and I would go in a cast for a couple months and go back to work," said Thomas, who hails from Copperas Cove, Texas. "But I guess it wasn't that easy; my leg was pretty much cut off, and life was just changed drastically."
After the accident, Thomas was medically evacuated from Spain to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, in Bethesda, Maryland, to receive the medical care he needed in hopes of saving his leg. Upon his arrival, the doctors took drastic steps and removed 13 centimeters of bone and flesh below the knee, hoping the bone would regrow.
Loss of Leg
"When I got to Walter Reed, I had an infection so they had to cut out 13 centimeters of my leg and smash it together," Thomas said. "My leg is looking like a 'Z.' I am walking on a leg that isn't doing anything for me. My foot was just dead: It won't move. I have no feeling. I couldn't touch it, so the recovery was tough."
In March 2016, after a year of trying to save his leg and undergoing numerous surgeries, including transferring arteries from his left leg to his right, doctors had exhausted all options. They would have to amputate.
"That night I cried and did everything a normal person would do," Thomas said, adding that the decision was ten times easier to make when the time came because he had already accepted his fate.
During his recovery process, Thomas found himself slipping down a dark path toward depression. He would never be the way he was before the accident. He thought his life was over.
"It was mentally weakening," he said. "I was in a really depressed state. I thought my life was over and I couldn't do anything ever again. Then, I realized there are other people who have it worse than me who have a smile on their face."
Supportive Wife
Thomas' main support during these dark days was his wife. He said she was there for him every step of the way, motivating and picking him up when he was feeling down in the dumps.
"My wife got me through most of everything I went through," Thomas said. "If it wasn't for her, I would probably still be in a hole somewhere and I wouldn't be here today."
During the two years after the accident, he said he acquired a new outlook on life and decided to see the world before he dies. On top of that, he believes he is a stronger person because of what he has experienced.
"It makes me a stronger person, because it is pretty much adapt and overcome," Thomas said.
Competing at This Year’s Warrior Games
After he recovered from his amputation, Thomas signed up for the 2017 Defense Department Warrior Games, to be held in Chicago June 30-July 8. The Warrior Games is a multisport event for wounded, injured or ill service personnel and veterans organized by DoD. This will be Thomas' first time participating in organized sports since his amputation.
Competing, Thomas said, gives him a new sense of hope as he strengthens physically and improves his wellbeing.
"For me, the Warrior Games is another way to be competitive again, to get your foot in the door of competing at an adaptive level," he said. "So if I can get my foot in the door here and get a foundation [of] what the sports are and how it is going to work, I think I can … make anything better."
Thomas will compete in three events in the Warrior Games: wheelchair basketball, sitting volleyball and cycling. He's most excited to play wheelchair basketball because, as a kid, basketball was his favorite sport.
"It feels awesome to be able to play basketball with a team again,” Thomas said. “The hardest part is learning to figure out all the new rules and how to work a wheelchair the way they want you to. But, the feeling is unimaginable."
For example, what constitutes a traveling violation in wheelchair basketball is different, he said. Players have to bounce once for every two pushes of the wheelchair.
Thomas' dedication to learning the rules and techniques of each sport impresses his coaches, including his volleyball coach, Bailey Wagner.
‘A.J. is a Great Guy’
"A.J. is a great guy; great attitude and what I love about him he is always asking questions,” Wagner said. “He is left-handed, so it is different from the majority of the team … but, he is always asking, 'Hey coach can you teach me this? How is this different from this scenario?' I just love people who want to be a sponge and learn as much as they can while they are here."
Before Thomas's accident, he was a dedicated Seabee who had plans to stay in the Navy. Stationed at the Naval Construction Battalion Center in Port Heuneme, California, he did three deployments with a Seabee battalion, twice to Afghanistan and once to Africa. He still thinks the world of his job.
"My favorite part about being a Seabee is working with my hands and being outside," Thomas said. "I love my job and I wouldn't trade it for the world."
Thomas is still assigned to Walter Reed, still recovering and undergoing physical therapy. He plans to get out of the military, hoping to work on vehicles. He can paint, fix and repair the body of any cars, he said, adding that he’d like to build custom build cars.
Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Alan Thomas practices sitting volleyball drills with fellow Team Navy members during a Navy Wounded Warrior Walter Reed Adaptive Sports training camp in Bethesda, Md., June 10, 2017. Navy photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Charlotte C. Oliver