1 00:00:01,450 --> 00:00:04,060 - She's actually a bilateral below-knee amputee, 2 00:00:04,060 --> 00:00:07,050 her name is Amy Purdy, and she's a paralympic snowboarder. 3 00:00:07,050 --> 00:00:08,410 One of my favorite quotes by her 4 00:00:08,410 --> 00:00:11,090 is "never let defeat defeat you." 5 00:00:11,090 --> 00:00:13,370 My name is Annika Hutsler, I'm here competing 6 00:00:13,370 --> 00:00:16,493 in the 2019 Warrior Games here in Tampa Bay, Florida. 7 00:00:17,670 --> 00:00:21,450 Before my injury, I was actually still in the schoolhouse 8 00:00:21,450 --> 00:00:24,890 to be a 2847, which is computer systems maintenance 9 00:00:24,890 --> 00:00:26,863 and ground electronics maintenance. 10 00:00:28,350 --> 00:00:31,620 I actually started having pain in my foot back in boot camp, 11 00:00:31,620 --> 00:00:33,930 and by the time I got to the schoolhouse, 12 00:00:33,930 --> 00:00:36,080 I was forced to go to medical, and there, 13 00:00:36,080 --> 00:00:38,710 they told me I had a stress fracture in my right foot. 14 00:00:38,710 --> 00:00:42,030 After about two months of healing 15 00:00:42,030 --> 00:00:43,883 and walking in a walking boot, 16 00:00:44,940 --> 00:00:47,570 I didn't actually heal, I was actually in more pain. 17 00:00:47,570 --> 00:00:51,860 So they did an MRI and found a giant mass in my foot. 18 00:00:51,860 --> 00:00:55,630 (somber piano music) 19 00:00:55,630 --> 00:00:57,570 It ended up being an intramuscular 20 00:00:57,570 --> 00:00:59,363 arteriovenous vascular tumor. 21 00:01:01,160 --> 00:01:03,870 Caused a lot of pain, it was actually engulfing the muscle 22 00:01:03,870 --> 00:01:07,920 in my foot, so by the time that we tried to do surgery 23 00:01:07,920 --> 00:01:10,210 in order to remove all of the tumor, 24 00:01:10,210 --> 00:01:12,610 they would have to remove most of the muscle in my foot, 25 00:01:12,610 --> 00:01:14,710 and they ended up causing a lot of nerve damage, 26 00:01:14,710 --> 00:01:18,600 and several infections, and... 27 00:01:18,600 --> 00:01:21,080 After a while, I was just done with the whole thing, 28 00:01:21,080 --> 00:01:23,440 and I've been asking them to cut off my foot 29 00:01:23,440 --> 00:01:25,120 for several, several months, 30 00:01:25,120 --> 00:01:27,433 and as of April 2nd, they finally did. 31 00:01:29,210 --> 00:01:32,380 I got transferred to Wounded Warrior in July 2018, 32 00:01:32,380 --> 00:01:34,820 and when you first walk into the Hope and Care Center, 33 00:01:34,820 --> 00:01:38,320 which is our big gym, there's just pictures everywhere 34 00:01:38,320 --> 00:01:41,760 of athletes, of the Warrior Games, really. 35 00:01:41,760 --> 00:01:43,940 And I saw those pictures, and I'm like, 36 00:01:43,940 --> 00:01:46,250 this is so cool, I want to do this. 37 00:01:46,250 --> 00:01:47,540 And you hear people talking about it, 38 00:01:47,540 --> 00:01:50,096 because the Warrior Games are a really big thing. 39 00:01:50,096 --> 00:01:51,098 - I don't know how long I can hold this! 40 00:01:51,098 --> 00:01:53,600 - [Woman] You're good, it's not a picture! 41 00:01:53,600 --> 00:01:55,460 - I started out with just archery, 42 00:01:55,460 --> 00:01:56,850 because I'd never done archery, 43 00:01:56,850 --> 00:01:58,680 I thought it was cool, and... 44 00:01:58,680 --> 00:02:01,330 My coach suggested, hey, do you wanna do the Warrior Games, 45 00:02:01,330 --> 00:02:05,069 and, yeah, so since then, I've been training 46 00:02:05,069 --> 00:02:07,940 in archery, wheelchair track, 47 00:02:07,940 --> 00:02:10,368 wheelchair rugby, and swimming. 48 00:02:10,368 --> 00:02:12,184 (audience clapping) 49 00:02:12,184 --> 00:02:15,184 (audience cheering) 50 00:02:16,980 --> 00:02:19,090 The adaptive sports are what kept me going, 51 00:02:19,090 --> 00:02:21,130 seeing my coaches every day, and improving, 52 00:02:21,130 --> 00:02:23,293 and seeing how far I had come. 53 00:02:25,100 --> 00:02:28,370 This may sound cheesy, but you almost inspire yourself, 54 00:02:28,370 --> 00:02:30,190 and not only that, but you're inspired 55 00:02:30,190 --> 00:02:33,090 by the people around you, because there's people here 56 00:02:33,090 --> 00:02:36,020 that have three missing limbs, and I have one missing limb. 57 00:02:36,020 --> 00:02:39,200 So if this guy can jump off the diving block, 58 00:02:39,200 --> 00:02:41,623 then I definitely can jump off the diving block. 59 00:02:44,870 --> 00:02:47,030 The games really teach resilience, 60 00:02:47,030 --> 00:02:48,460 and I think that's a really big thing 61 00:02:48,460 --> 00:02:50,590 in Wounded Warrior, is resilience, 62 00:02:50,590 --> 00:02:52,450 which means it doesn't matter how many times 63 00:02:52,450 --> 00:02:54,860 you get knocked down, you keep getting back up. 64 00:02:54,860 --> 00:02:57,910 Life's hard, it really is, and... 65 00:02:57,910 --> 00:03:00,420 You gotta figure out what will get you through all that, 66 00:03:00,420 --> 00:03:02,170 and for me, that's adaptive sports. 67 00:03:03,720 --> 00:03:06,260 I got my first prosthetic on May 9th, 68 00:03:06,260 --> 00:03:08,010 and I've been walking since then, 69 00:03:08,010 --> 00:03:13,010 and it's been a lot, a lot, a lot of physical therapy. 70 00:03:13,230 --> 00:03:16,530 But right now, I am walking pretty successfully 71 00:03:16,530 --> 00:03:18,980 just with a cane, and give it another month or two, 72 00:03:18,980 --> 00:03:20,430 and I'm sure I'll be running.