By Shannon Collins DoD News, Defense Media Activity
TORONTO, Oct. 1, 2017 — When former Air Force volleyball and
arena football player medically retired Air Force Staff Sgt. Sebastiana
Lopez-Arellano almost died in a motorcycle accident in 2015, she said she never
thought she would be able to play sports again.
“I didn’t lost consciousness when I hit the tree. I shattered
my femur and my knee. I broke my femur in half and severed my femoral. My leg
was flipped upside down,” she said.
After almost dying and sliding into a coma for a month, she
woke up to an amputated leg and the knowledge that she was an above-the-knee amputee
with quadriplegic hand function. Though she’s had more than 50 lifesaving
surgeries and the scars to prove it, she said she doesn’t let them deter her
recovery.
“I lost half my body weight; I went from about 160 to 80
pounds so I was struggling with my activities of daily living,” she said. Her
recovery care coordinator at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center,
Bethesda, Maryland, pushed her to go to an Air Force Wounded Warrior adaptive
sports camp.
Competing
“I didn’t think I was ready to start any of the adaptive
camps yet,” Lopez-Arellano said. “I was intimidated because of the weight loss
but my recovery care coordinator was like, just give the camp a try. She didn’t
tell me it was the tryouts of the [Department of Defense] Warrior Games team. I
did really well there; medaled a bunch and made the team the first time
around.”
She went on to medal at the DoD Warrior Games and at her
first Invictus Games here this week, she took home the gold in the women’s
lightweight division of powerlifting, a gold in the hand cycling time trial, a
silver in hand cycling, the bronze in discus and the bronze medals in the
50-meter breast and 100-meter breast in swimming in her disability category.
More than 550 wounded, ill and injured service members from
17 nations competed in 12 sporting events including archery, track and field,
cycling, golf, sitting volleyball, swimming, wheelchair rugby and wheelchair
basketball Sept. 23 to 30 as they are cheered on by thousands of family
members, friends and spectators in the Distillery District here.
Camaraderie
As a first-generation American, Lopez-Arellano said she
joined the Air Force because she felt like she owed something to her country.
“My family came here from Mexico. I have nine brothers and
sisters and five out of 10 of us joined the military, all different branches of
service,” she said. “It was kind of in our blood to join. My parents got their
citizenships recently so they’re super-proud Americans now.”
Although Lopez-Arellano had trouble with her shifter on her
hand cycle during her race, the former C-17 crew chief said she had the most
fun she’s ever had on a race, thanks to her Team U.S. teammate, Air Force Capt.
Christy Wise, who flies HC-130 aircraft and rides the upright cycles.
“I was having problems with my shifter, and it was a very
technical course. She was having a hard time keeping up with the first two
girls. As an above-the-knee amputee, it’s hard for her to keep up with the
below-the-knee and the two feet, so she had a rough start, too,” Lopez-Arellano
said. “We were both kind of in the dumps, so she was like, ‘You know what, I’ll
pull you’ and what that means is, I’ll draft off of her and she’ll take some of
the wind. We kept such a good cadence after that. At the end of it, we couldn’t
stop smiling."
Wise is the first Air Force female pilot to return to active
duty who has an amputated leg above the knee. “She’s a bad ass. I love her,”
Lopez-Arellano said.
Lopez-Arellano said he’s also friends with many of the
international competitors such as the U.K.’s Jen Warren and New Zealand’s Tina
Grant. “Tina was here last year, and she’s always trying to get me out to New Zealand.
I’m always so busy so it’s hard to make time to go out there, but hopefully
soon,” she said. “I met this powerlifter, Sarah [Sliwka from Australia]. We
swapped shirts the other day. That was pretty cool.”
Lopez-Arellano said that when the whistle blows or the gun
goes off, everyone is competitive, but at the finish line, “Everyone’s waiting
for you or they’ll come back and ride down with you.”
She added, “They honestly become lifelong friends in an
instant. From last year’s games, I stayed in touch with most competitors on
Facebook and followed their stories and have a home no matter where I go. If I
want to travel and go to Australia or New Zealand, there’s always someone there
with an open door there for you. They will open up their homes. It’s pretty
awesome.”
Inspired
Lopez-Arellano said she’s continually inspired by her fellow
competitors at events like the DoD Warrior Games and Invictus Games.
“There are literally no limits. I see people do amazing
things here,” she said. “Your injury doesn’t define you. You take control of
your life. You take it back. A lot of these guys end up going to the
Paralympics or starting businesses because it gives them that extra edge. I see
triple and quadruple amputees swimming. Where else can you see that? We’re
unstoppable.”
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