Marine Corps Veteran amputee ready for winter sports

Sometimes, winter sports are as much a celebration as a competition. Just ask Marine Corps Veteran Ryan Garza.

A fourth tour in Afghanistan in 2011 would change his life forever when an IED blast rocked the seven-ton truck the then-25-year-old Marine was riding in, badly injuring his leg. He spent more than a year at the Naval Medical Center in Portsmouth, Virginia, receiving treatment for his shattered leg and traumatic brain injury.

As the years went by, Garza’s medical team worked to save the limb. But by 2015, Garza and his doctors knew he would be better off without it. He made the agonizing decision to amputate and even selected the date of surgery… Friday the 13th.

“I was very anxious before the surgery, but I realized pain had been destroying my life, and I was becoming a violent dude and a bad alcoholic. Once I picked the date, I started pushing forward,” Garza said.

“Seeing hope in their eyes was my way of giving back.”

Just five months later, Garza was climbing a 14,000-foot mountain in Colorado with No Barriers USA. But despite his resolve to bounce back, there was more pain to come.

“In 2016, I witnessed one of my Marine buddies take his life, and I took it hard,” he said. “The biggest thing that was holding me down was the guilt.”

It was a Thanksgiving holiday that Garza says saved his life.

“I decided to give some food to the homeless and I felt a weight lift off me. That year, I made more than 100 plates and passed them out. Seeing hope in their eyes, giving back… that was my way to give back to myself,” he added.

Writing book to help Veterans with trauma

From that moment, Garza was determined to help other Veterans who may be experiencing trauma. He is writing a book, “Disturbed Earth: My Journey from Guilt to Forgiveness,” which he hopes to publish on what he calls his “stay alive” day.

“That’s the day that you should have died but you are still here,” he said.

Garza, who receives his care at the PFC Floyd K. Lindstrom VA Clinic in Colorado Springs, Colorado, continues to push his mental and athletic boundaries. Being at the National Disabled Veteran’s Winter Sports Clinic in Aspen-Snowmass, Colorado, was another step toward regaining his life, and he is thrilled to be snowboarding.

“I never did winter sports and always wanted to snowboard,” he said. And his first day on the mountain did not disappoint, as he quickly conquered the beginner slopes and moved on to the intermediate blue terrain.

“It was absolutely amazing. I’ve been nailing the blues without falling. I went from bunny hills to the blues,” he said.

Garza isn’t ruling out black diamonds in his future because he doesn’t put limitations on himself. As a motivational speaker, he asks the same of his audiences: “What is your summit?” before challenging them to “do the one thing you think you can’t.”

The 2023 National Disabled Veterans Winter Sports Clinic is scheduled for March 25-31 at Snowmass Village, Colorado.