FORT EUSTIS, Va. –
For U.S. Army Sgt. Hilton Hunter, a lifetime of playing sports and staying active ended abruptly when an Afghani civilian tried to cut through a convoy of Army trucks, including the gun truck Sgt. Hunter was driving.
As part of the convoy rolled on without noticing the pile-up, civilians swarmed the remaining two trucks angry and thinking that Hunter caused the wreck.
"The crowd felt that I was at fault, so they came from everywhere," said Hunter, 42, of the 302nd Cargo Division.
The incident, fortunately, did not boil over, but, it left Hunter with a crushed vertebra in his neck, a twisted ankle and a torn meniscus in his knee.
Life for the athlete would never be the same, or so he thought.
Hunter arrived back to the United States from Afghanistan in July 2011, back to his wife and their family. He was assigned to the Fort Eustis' Warrior Transition Unit and a desk job, working at the base's Public Affairs Office.
He wears a brace on his leg to help shift the weight so he can walk normally, and will eventually have surgery to repair the meniscus. He also plays it safe most of the time when it comes to physical activity because the neck injury was just a hair away from a major nerve.
"At any time I can really mess something up," Hunter said. "I have to be careful."
He doesn't have to watch his back as much, now that he's home, Hunter said, but, the reality of what happened and the physical limitations began to wear on his emotions.
He needed something to stop him from retreating into his shell.
Initially, when Hunter heard about the Warrior Games by Deloitte, to be held in Colorado Springs, Colo., April 30-May3, and about playing wheelchair basketball, he wasn't interested, Hunter said.
Hunter's platoon leader, Sergeant 1st Class William Lassiter, had other plans.
"After talking to Sergeant Hunter, I found out that he played football in college. I then told him about the Warrior Games and that if he made the team he could compete at a higher level," Lassiter said.
Once Hunter attended the clinics to learn about the sport, "I started feeling a little better about going out," he said.
Lassiter knew the potential healing effects joining the quest for the Warrior Games could have.
"I've worked in a similar environment prior to coming here, and knew that soldiers who were injured and idle could create potential issues," Lassiter said. "I just tried to encourage soldiers to participate so that they could see their potential at a new sport and maybe build up their level of competitiveness."
It worked. Hunter's passion for playing sports with a team and competing came back.
Started in 2010, the Warrior Games have become a catalyst for many injured service members and veterans to continue playing sports, to staying active and healthy both mentally and physically.
Athletes for the games are chosen proportionately from the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard and Special Operations Command, based on their disability. They compete in seven sports: archery, cycling, shooting, sitting volleyball, swimming, track and field, and wheelchair basketball. This year, the number of eligible participants in each armed service was whittled from 100 to 50, making competition stiff to make the cut.
According to the Warrior Games' mission statement, the event serves as an introduction to the Paralympics sports for injured service members by inspiring recovery, physical fitness, and promoting new opportunities for growth and achievement.
By getting Soldiers involved in going out for the Games, Lassiter understands how important the opportunity to compete for these injured soldiers can be.
"Some soldiers such as Sgt. Hunter have played a team sport in high school and/or college, and know what it feels like to be inspired by the game," Lassiter said. "With the Soldier's I've met at the Adaptive Sports Clinics I've attended and at the Ft. Eustis WTU, they still want to compete injured or not.
"The Warrior Games gives them the hope and opportunity to display their skills even through injury and adversity," he said. "This is also an opportunity to compete against other members of the armed services. This alone is enough to gear Soldiers up for competition."
Learning some of the skills for the sports wasn't easy, according to Hunter, like dribbling the basketball in a wheelchair.
"Moving the way you want to, when you want to" was the hardest part, Hunter said. "I've gotten better, it's hard to dribble."
In addition to wheelchair basketball, which Soldiers participate in as part of their physical-training sessions, Hunter also got into seated volleyball.
The courts are smaller than regulation volleyball courts, and everyone must keep their butt on the floor when going after the ball.
"Once the ball comes to you, you try to tap it up before somebody else can get it, so it's being precise on where you can hit it," said Hunter.
Hunter was trying for spots on the seated volleyball and basketball teams, but according to Lassiter, he only qualified for seated volleyball, and unfortunately didn't make the final cut.
Still, Hunter knows how much the drive to attend the Warrior Games improved his outlook on life.
"It saved me a little bit," he said, adding that it helped clear his mind and "it helps you compete again, so it makes you feel better about that."