Gold

Part 1

Standing on the giant podium was the greatest feeling next to having my kids. Staring into the TV cameras, I know that my family, friends, and trainers are watching me. I smile at the thought. I can't believe that I'm actually standing here after my horrific accident. When the commentators ask me who made this possible, I said, " I want to thank my parents, my family, my kids, my wife, and most of all, my trainers and surgeons." I feel that I am acting like a crybaby because I am crying like a little girl. I think to myself, I did it! I know that I have become someone who defied the odds no matter what happened. All I can think about on the way back to the the Village is my family. As I got back, I take off my prostetic legs, gulf down Asprin, and I feel tears streaming down my scarred face as I think of how far I've come after that horrific day in the plane. I reflect on my journey before I face time my family.

I was as happy as anyone can be around two years ago. I had the perfect family, the perfect job, and the perfect home. My family is amazing. I have one boy and three girls. My oldest is Colin, 7, is kind, caring, sweet, and sports-minded. I love spending time with him. Riley, 5, is cute, generous, and looks on the bright side of everything. My twins, Kieran and Maggie, 3, are inseperable. They are so funny together and very energetic. My wife is amazing in so many ways, she takes care of th ekids when they are sick, when I'm away, and many more. They motivate me to wake up every morning, and look forward to my job. My job is really interesting, and hard at times. I am a captain in the Army and I fly Blackhawks. The reason my job is so perfect, is because of the fact that when I do drills that go late into the night, I get to see the beutiful sunset overlooking Hawaii. The Hickim base is based on a stunning beach with white sand, clear water, and many kids to play with.

It's crazy when things seem so right can go so wrong with a blink of an eye. When I found out that we had a mission at dusk, I was nervous because a month before, a plane crash into the ocean, killing all of the crew. When I told my family about it, Riley came up to me, gave me a bear hug, and said, "Well, at least they are in a better place." I looked down at her, smiled, and stated "Yes they are." I didn't realize that an accident could be heading my way until it was too late.

It was a perfect afternoon to go flying for a mission. It wasn't to hot, or to cold. The sunset was a beautiful gold color with streaks of pink. It's weird when everything seems to be so calm, but then things can turn into turmoil in a blink of an eye.

It was supposed to be a routine drop off where it lower the plane down, then my crew mates jump out out the plane. The takeoff was as smooth as butter. we were just getting to the halfway mark in our journey, and it felt like we were losing altitude. I check the control panel, and we were in fact losing altitude. It smelled like something was burning as well, so I looked out of the window. My heart nearly jumped out of my throat at what I saw. I saw the back half of the plane was on fire. I tried to look calm for the sake of everyone, but on the inside, I almost peed my pants.I told the crew that there was a fire on the plane, and we need to act as cautious as we can. they started to get very nervous, but I told them to go and get a parachute. They did as I said to do and looked at me for further instructions. That's when the explosion came.

We all started panicking instead of trying to be calm and collected. It was turmoil. when the whole plane caught on fire, we were really starting to think that we were going to die tonight. We had about nine hundred feet left before we hit the ground, so I called in and said as calm as I could, "Mayday, we are losing altitude and we are on fire!" I told everyone to jump out of the plane when I said go. Some refused to do so, but after I scolded them, they agreed to do it only if I came right after them. I told the first group to go, then the second. the last people on the plane were only me and my second in command. I said go to him and he looked at me with a sympathetic face and said, "Be careful." I told him I would, and he left. I ran back to the control panel to check how much altitude I had left. It said two hundred so I sprinted to the parachute, and when I got there my heart sank. the parachute was broken. I would have to jump from the plane. I decided to wait to the last minute so I wouldn't have any broken bones. I realized too late that that was a bad decision because as I jumped I felt heat roll up my body, then everything went black.