SALT LAKE CITY — U.S. Marine veteran and adaptive sports athlete Mike Ricci is helping others deal with physical and emotional issues after he suffered his own serious injury.
”This program does help some veterans come out of their shell a little bit. It’s not easy to deal with PTSD to get outside,” Ricci shared.
Ricci saw combat during the Iraq war, although his injury happened after he left the Corps. However, he feels his Marine experience, and overcoming his own physical challenges, helps him relate to and encourage other adaptive sports athletes, especially military veterans.
After surviving two tours in the Iraq war relatively unscathed, one in Fallujah and another in Ramadi, Ricci wasn’t as lucky following a paraglider crash after leaving the Marines.
“So, I’m actually partially paralyzed below the waist," he explained. "I broke my L4, my S2, dislocated my SI joint.”
Ricci spent a month in the hospital, then three more months in a rehab facility to deal with chronic pain, believing his life as he knew it was over.
“After my injury, I was just laying on the couch, staring at the ceiling. I didn’t want to get outside," Ricci said.
At one point, the VA suggested Ricci check out Wasatch Adaptive Sports. Having never been a cyclist, he was skeptical when first climbing into an adaptive sports bike. Then after a short, 3-mile ride, he was exhausted.
“You’re trying to deal with what is basically your new normal and that’s hard to overcome,” he admitted.
It didn’t take Ricci long to overcome his new normal and he quickly ramped things up. In September, he completed the Lotoja, a 200-plus mile long-distance ride from Logan to Jackson Hole.
Ricci attacks his goals like a military operation, except the mission now is helping others, especially fellow veterans.
“... I love connecting with people," he said. "I love connecting with veterans and it helps people and it helps me too, so it’s a two-way street.”
It’s given Ricci a new mantra.
“Just because you have a disability doesn’t mean you have a ceiling. Figure out what you can do and become the best version of yourself,” encouraged Ricci.
According to the most recent survey conducted by the Veterans Administration, at least 17 veterans take their own lives every day. However, some believe that number is underreported and could be twice that many.
Programs offered by Wasatch Adaptive Sports are 100% free to US military veterans, so veterans struggling, or know one who is, CLICK HERE to reach out to Wasatch Adaptive Sports.
There are two adaptive sports places in Colorado, one in Crested Butte and the other in Winter Park. Adaptive Sports Center of Crested Butte is located on Emmons Road, and the National Sports Center For the Disabled is located on Parsenn Road in Winter Park.
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