TAMPA, Fla. — Thousands will lace up their shoes and take part in the Publix Gasparilla Distance Classic. Within the crowd will be members of the armed forces, who are taking part in the ABC Action News Military Challenge presented by West Shore Homes.
Retired Staff Sergeant Alex Dillman will represent the Army in the half marathon, and he will do it without the use of his legs.
“I've been in the chair for so long that I don't remember what life was like before the chair. I'm more active in the chair now than I ever was before,” explained Alex.
Alex was a high school kid who loved to run and who always knew he wanted to be in the Army. But his second tour in Afghanistan was met with harsh winter weather, and the mine rollers on his all-terrain vehicle took a beating.
“Unfortunately, using the vehicles in the way we did, we had a lot of malfunctions with the mine rollers. So we eventually had to take them off to have them repaired, and we got called out on a patrol one night, and in the process of getting to the objective, we hit an IED,” said Alex.
In and out of consciousness, Alex woke up at Walter Reed Hospital with his wife, Holly, by his side. He was then told he was paralyzed from the chest down, with the use of his legs gone.
“I have such a great, awesome wife. She was there from the beginning, and that made it so much easier to cope with it,’ explained Alex.
Coping now comes in a variety of ways for Alex. Skydiving has become his new passion. And with him always on the back of his helmet is Kris Gould, his good friend who did not survive the IED explosion. Alex said the two were deployed together and were always together.
Hand cycling is Alex's place where he said he can get lost in his thoughts while being competitive. And he will do just that when he takes part in the half marathon for the Military Challenge at the Gasparilla Distance Classic. Pride will push him with each rotation, and an old friend at his back cheering him on.
“I was a pretty avid runner prior to my injury, and this has kind of filled that void because you can go as fast or as slow as you want. You can be as intense as you want,” explained Alex.
He continued, “Kris pops in there usually when I'm going uphill, and I just gotta go, just go, just go, just go kind of deal.”
Alex has been in several hand cycling races, but he usually goes the full marathon distance, so this will be one of his shorter races.
