Special Operations Vet Tyler Grey Writes About Coming Back After a War Injury

US Army Special Operations veteran Tyler Grey has taken to GORUCK — a tactical gear manufacturer which also offers renowned training events — to share a story about an arm injury he suffered during a nighttime raid in Sadr City, Baghdad, in 2005. In the article, Grey explains the physical and mental effects of his injury, as well as his efforts to resume physical activities such as exercising.

“At first I thought I had lost my arm; it suddenly felt … not there,” Grey writes. “Once I got outside, I looked at it. From several inches above my wrist to my shoulder it looked like hamburger meat. Plus I saw I had an arterial bleed – and uh that’s not good.”

Grey spent several months in the hospital. He lost 50 pounds and endured over 30 surgeries during a four-year span. Eventually, Grey arrived at the point where he wanted to resume physical activities. “I wanted to get back to working out, to shooting, rock climbing, mountain biking, etc … I love to train, that’s just who I am,” he writes.

Grey then discusses his first experience in the gym in over four years. “It felt like a foreign place that I had never been to in my life,” he writes. “I felt like a fraud, like I shouldn’t be in there.”

He didn’t let this deter him, however. He arrived back at the gym the very next day with a new attitude: “To not judge myself and just keep pushing forward,” he writes. “I had to get over what I used to do, who I thought I was, and most importantly who I ‘used’ to be. I had to start over and the first step was accepting and being ok with that.”

It’s been three years since that first day back, and Grey says he continues to push himself as hard as he can. “I rest and I heal and then I get back on the horse and ride it at 100% effort till I fall off or it bucks me.”

Click below to read more of Tyler Grey’s inspiring story.