Paralyzed Veterans of America Blog

U.S. Navy Veteran Tony was diagnosed with MS in 2005, the same year he was expecting twin boys. Tony had been a lieutenant when he was on his first operational deployment to Bahrain. While there, he played soccer and worked out, but noticed he was having a lot of weakness and fatigue. He thought it […]

When he was just 22 years old, U.S. Coast Guard Veteran and PVA member Kaleb took a $100 bet that changed his life. Friends dared him to jump off a pier. He was young and he figured he’d do it – it’s $100, right?  Kaleb dove in headfirst, but hit the bottom, shattering several vertebrae. […]

When Marine Corps Veteran Todd Kemery was injured during a surfing accident at just 21 years old, he assumed things would go back to normal when he got out of the hospital.  “I didn’t realize the seriousness of my injury until my father walked through the door of my hospital room,” Todd said. “I couldn’t […]

The force of nature known as Ann Adair served in the U.S. Army for fourteen years. She was a reservist in a Civil Affairs Unit that served all over the world during emergencies and war situations. While on active duty, she fell numerous times, injuring her back and knees. She now relies on a cane, […]

U.S. Navy veteran and California PVA chapter member Darryl Lair has lived his life by one message: focus on what you can do, and not on what you can’t.   After a motorcycle accident that put him in a wheelchair 29 years ago, Darryl has consistently passed along that message to others – most specifically, kids with disabilities. […]

Army wife Bobbie Guinn remembers the heartbreak she felt when she told her children that their father would never walk again. “I remember driving down the road in the car with my children and my daughter asking how her daddy was going to walk her down the aisle someday,” Bobby says. I remember telling her, […]

Military service is a family affair, and one of the primary motivators for Bobby Fecteau to join the United States Army in 1999. Fecteau says, “I was motivated by a legacy of service in our family, primarily following in my father’s footsteps to serve my country.”  Fecteau served in the Army for eight years, before […]

Kate is a warrior. She’s been a wildly inspirational and powerful force throughout her life, even after the 2000 surgical complication from hydrocephalus that left her a paraplegic. She loved softball. She loved backpacking through Yellowstone. She was a fierce competitor who hunted occasionally and loved being a part of a team. Kate knew she […]

Southeastern Chapter member Twila Adams wanted to join the Army, travel, live abroad, and complete college. So she served in the Army from 1980 to 1991, where she was involved in Desert Shield and Desert Storm operations in Kuwait and Iraq. She ended her career as a sergeant, and returned to her hometown of Charlotte, […]