Local veteran, double amputee trains for Soldier Ride 250
Double amputee trains for Soldier Ride 250
Veteran Neil Duncan served in Afghanistan, where his vehicle was struck by an IED.Both of Duncan's legs were amputated. Now he's training for Soldier Ride 250, a bike ride celebrating 250 years of American independence.
WASHINGTON - It turns out, riding a bike – isn't always just like riding a bike.
The backstory:
"I didn’t know an amputee before I became an amputee," Neil Duncan said Wednesday in Bethesda.
The 42-year-old veteran enlisted in the Army in 2002, first deploying to Iraq and later Afghanistan as a paratrooper. Then, in December 2005, Duncan’s vehicle was struck by an IED.
"When I woke up, my arms were cast because I broke them, my jaw was wired shut, I was eating through a tube, I was breathing through a tube," Duncan recalled. "My legs were gone."
That's when Duncan decided to get back on his feet.
"Once I got out of the intensive care unit and I got prosthetics, I started getting after it," he explained.
Ultimately, Duncan didn't just learn how to hike, he learned how to hike to the tallest points on three continents, including Mt. Kilimanjaro, a climb he did alongside two other amputees.
"Another double amputee and a single amputee. So, there was one leg amongst the three guys," Duncan added.
He also didn't just learn how to ride a bike, Duncan will now take part in May's Soldier Ride 250.
Soldier Ride 250:
Duncan will be one of 80 wounded warriors who will ride about 1,000 miles total – from Wounded Warrior Project headquarters in Jacksonville, FL to Firehouse 10 in the shadow of Ground Zero in New York City. His portion of the ride stretches from Wilmington, NC to Norfolk, VA.
"These are forever wars to some people, and you’re constantly battling these things," Duncan told Fox 5. "And so, organizations that continue to support – and the donors that support those organizations – are really important. Obviously, there’s a new round of injured folks coming through today, and I want to make sure that they understand what the opportunities are, regardless of what their injuries may be."
What you can do:
To learn more about Soldier Ride 250, you can click here.
To learn more about Wounded Warrior Project, or if you'd like to donate, you can click here.