How do we begin to tell the incredible story of Ben Harrow?  Perhaps it all starts with the sport of lacrosse.

A gifted athlete, Ben was a standout soccer goalie and hockey player growing up on Long Island.  But it was after moving off to boarding school at Woodberry Forest that his passion for lacrosse emerged.  Ben sharpened his skills as a multi-sport athlete, but by his junior year, it became clear that lacrosse, not hockey or soccer, was going to open doors for him.    By senior year, he was an All-State attack with a growing list of college offers.  But Ben was most attracted to the Service academies, in particular, The Naval Academy and West Point.  He didn’t come from a military family.  He wasn’t driven from an early age to serve his country.  He simply loved the sense of brotherhood and family that flowed from these institutions.  And he desperately wanted to compete for a lacrosse national championship.  So when Army showed him the love right back, it was an easy decision.  Ben did not have a final destination in mind.  But he was excited about the journey ahead of him at West Point!

From a lacrosse perspective, things worked out great for Ben Harrow.  While Army did not win a national championship during his time there, they advanced to the postseason three out of four years and remained nationally relevant.  Ben had a distinguished career, netting 15 goals as a starting defensive mid-fielder and winning the Unsung Hero Award his senior year (To this day, his proudest athletic accomplishment).  But beyond lacrosse, there were far more impactful events happening around the world.  The tragedy of 9/11 and the subsequent invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan transpired during Ben’s time at West Point.  Suddenly, the world and the military mission had dramatically changed.  Ben knew he would be headed to war.  Instead of shrinking from the moment, Ben and six of his teammates made a pact to embrace the challenges of the new world order.  They signed up for the infantry unit which would eventually be stationed at Fort Hood (and they remain brothers to this day).  Why take the easy way out?

Four months later, Ben Harrow traded in his lacrosse stick for an M4 rifle and shipped off to his first tour of duty in Iraq.  Those fifteen months abroad emboldened his resolve for the cause and deepened his love for his country.  When he returned home, Ben was determined to join the elite Special Forces (He would eventually become a Green Beret).  If he was going to do something, he was going to do it ALL THE WAY.  In addition, his time in Iraq rekindled old feelings for his childhood sweetheart, Gina. Shortly after returning back to Fort Hood, Ben reached out to Gina and continued a  courtship that culminated a year later in a good old-fashioned Army wedding.  Life just kept getting better and better.

Ben was extremely busy with his Special Forces training and spent much of the next year traveling from one grueling tactical training to the next.  Gina, as always, stood by him and supported his mission even though she had no previous exposure to the military lifestyle.  In July of 2010, Gina felt it was time for them to get away for some much-needed alone time.  Ben had two weeks of leave and Gina wanted to surprise him with a fully-planned vacation to Costa Rica.  But on the day she announced her plans and presented him with the tickets, Ben received official notice from the Army for his next assignment.  Instead of Costa Rica, Ben was headed to the Uruzgan Province in Afghanistan as a Green Beret Captain!

Captain Harrow was in charge of an elite team of 12 Green Berets that was the toughest group he had ever commanded.  During this time,  he was instrumental in leading Black Hawk helicopter assaults, battling the Taliban, and running counter-insurgency campaigns amidst the Afghan people.  He was the highest-ranking official in the region and reveled in his ability to call the shots and advance the American mission in Afghanistan.  He had initially gone to West Point to experience a journey and right now that journey was as smooth and as satisfying as he could possibly imagine.  And just when he thought things couldn’t get better, news came from the States that changed his world forever.  Gina was pregnant with their first child.  It was time to come home.

A few months later, Gina gave birth to their son, Peyton.  And for a while, they lived like any other young family.  Inseparable during this time, the three of them made the most of their time together.  Ben knew all too well of the dangers in Iraq and Afghanistan and cherished every moment of peace and calm on their base.  But when you make the ultimate sacrifice to join the Special Forces, you also understand that these moments of peace and tranquility do not last forever.  Less than one year after returning from his second tour of active duty, Ben Harrow was sent to the Kandahar Province in the Panjawai district of Afghanistan.  This was far more hostile and dangerous than any other region Ben had known.  Why do anything the easy way?

5 months into his third deployment, Ben found out just how dangerous and unpredictable Kandahar could be.  On May, 15, 2012, Ben was leading his new team of Green Berets on an anti-terrorism mission when he stepped on a 10-pound, homemade improvised explosive device (IED). The blast launched him several feet in the air, rupturing both eardrums, blowing apart his legs, and severely breaking both his arms.  Immediately, bullets ripped through the air.  It was an ambush and Ben was the bait.  As his Green Beret team engaged in battle, Ben lay there crushed and broken.  He could not take a breath.  At that moment, Ben vividly pictured an old photo of Gina and Peyton in his head.  It gave him peace.  “Sorry, Gina”,  Ben weakly whispered before slipping off into blackness.

Ben Harrow teetered precariously between life and death for the next three days.  But 75 units of blood (75!) and several emergency surgeries later, Ben snapped out of his medically-induced coma and awakened in Germany to an angelic nurse.  He had no memory of what happened.  The nurse informed him he had stepped on an IED and lost both of his legs above the knee, lost two fingers on his right hand, and had received extensive damage to his forearm and remaining fingers.  Ben swallowed hard, accepted the grim news, and mustered all of his strength for the next question.  “Did [Mr. Happy] survive the blast?”, he asked hopefully.  Thankfully for Ben (and Gina), all was good in that department.  With that, he slipped into darkness once again, but this time, with a slight smile on his face.

Ben was eventually flown back to Walter Reed Medical Hospital outside Washington, DC,  where Gina and Peyton were waiting for him.  Gina was set up with housing through the generosity of the Yellow Ribbon Fund, a military non-profit benefitting caregivers, and spent each day by his bedside.  Ben was on every painkiller imaginable but felt as if he was losing control of his mind and his body.  After only one month, he decided to go cold turkey from ALL pain medication.  Relief was only a morphine paddle away, but why do anything the easy way?  After an unbearable battle, Ben broke through the wall of pain and successfully managed his condition without any drugs.  As a result, his ravaged body was able to recover quicker, and, remarkably, one month later he was discharged from Walter Reed in record time.  His first battle was now behind him.

But now came the battle to feel normal again.  Perhaps his greatest battle of all. Ben was an impossibly fit 215 pounds on the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan.  He was fast, muscular and fearless.  But now he was down to 135 pounds, weak, and seemingly helpless.   With Gina’s constant support, he started to get back into shape.  He worked out constantly and slowly adjusted to his new body. Gina, Peyton and Ben transitioned into an apartment and he learned how to move around in a wheelchair.  But something was missing.  Unfortunately, Ben could not be fit with proper prosthetic legs because the amputation was above the knee.  Most people would have accepted that fate.  But when Ben puts his mind to something, HE DOES IT ALL THE WAY.  With Gina’s help, he tirelessly researched experimental surgeries for bone-lengthening procedures.  There were macabre procedures for would-be Russian models and more traditional surgeries to lengthen the bones in little people.  Eventually, his research landed him on a doctor in Minnesota who performed a ground-breaking procedure called osseo-distraction.  One month later, Ben Harrow was the first amputee patient in America approved for this remarkable procedure.

Ben now faced a grueling battle akin to his training in Ranger School.  The mental, physical and emotional hurdles would be severe and the outcome could never be certain.  But why take the easy way out?  Ben subjected himself to 15 more surgeries over the course of the next 12 months.  He suffered setbacks and disappointments.  At times, the pain was more severe than during his initial recovery.  But once again, Ben defied the odds.  He not only successfully grew his femur, but he also set a medical world record by extending the bone a remarkable 6 and 1/2 inches!  Shortly thereafter, he was fit with a pair of state-of-the-art prosthetics.  And in the summer of 2014, a little over two years after his near-fatal accident, Ben Harrow stood up and walked under his own power!

For most people, the battle would have ended there.  But Ben Harrow is not most people.  His competitive fire still burned and he longed to return to his status as an elite athlete.  But how?  Lacrosse is the fastest sport on two feet, and that no longer applied to him.  What about hockey?  A friend introduced him to sled hockey and he soon joined the USA Warriors as the starting goalie.  His hand-eye coordination and athletic instincts propelled him, and his team, to the top ranks of the sled hockey league.  He was once again an elite athlete.  But was there more he could accomplish?  Ben researched the Paralympic games and found the USA team had an all-star goalie who was dominating the sport.  Representing the USA would not be an option.  But he once again took on an enormous research project and discovered he could apply for dual citizenship in Italy (through Gina’s lineage).  Why do things the easy way?  He contacted the Italian Paralympic team and they invited him over to Turino for a tryout.  As a temporary member of the Italian National team, he shut out Norway 2-0 and earned a permanent spot on the roster.  He is still awaiting his papers for dual citizenship but he is poised to compete in the 2017 World Championships and the 2018 Paralympic Games in Seoul, South Korea.  Would you bet against Ben Harrow adding an Olympic gold medal to his amazing list of superhuman accomplishments?

So where does this remarkable story end?  Well, as with most great stories, there are new chapters being written every day.  Sixteen months ago, Ben and Gina welcomed their second child, daughter Marchesa, into the world (Mr. Happy is doing just fine!)  And on March 28, 2016, Ben Harrow retired from the Army as a full Captain and successfully transitioned into a civilian job as the government liaison for iBoss, a successful cyber-security company.  For her part, Gina recently accepted a full-time role at the Yellow Ribbon fund, the military non-profit that had so positively impacted her life.  Their family unit, the most important unit Ben ever joined, is happy, healthy, and moving forward with success!

Ben Harrow made the fateful decision to matriculate to West Point to play lacrosse and find brotherhood and a sense of family.  He was interested in the journey but did not have a destination in mind.  During this incredible journey, Ben exuded unwavering passion and effort.  He broke through countless roadblocks and tirelessly researched solutions rather than settling for mediocrity.  He persevered through unimaginable pain and never took the easy way out.  And along the way, he stared down certain death, nurtured a loving family, set a medical world record, fostered hope among an entire generation of veterans and amputees, competed for Paralympic glory, and courageously served his country in a time of war.  I’d say he reached one hell of a destination.

As Resilient Workers, there is much we can glean from Ben Harrow’s story.    How many of us keep asking questions until we achieve excellence?  How many of us settle for mediocrity?  How many of us take the easy way out?  How many of us give up after we experience our first roadblock?  How many of us live without passion or purpose?  Well, all that changes today!  The reality is that we all have a little Ben Harrow in us.  It’s time to channel that passion!  It’s time to harness that determination!  It’s time to dig deep and uncover that fearlessness lurking within you!  You were not put on this earth to be ordinary.  There is a remarkable journey inside of you and the destination is set for greatness.  On this glorious Memorial Day, let us remember the incredible story of Ben Harrow.  And let us remember at we all have that same journey within us.

Until next week, keep smiling and GOD BLESS AMERICA!