Lakeshore Foundation taught Noah to ask, “How do I know what I can do unless I try?”

Living Like an Average Guy

Posted November 9, 2010

“WAS IT A NEAR-DEATH EXPERIENCE? I don’t think of it that way,” Noah Galloway, a veteran of the war in Iraq, says with a shrug. “I just got injured.”

In truth, it was a near-death experience. In December 2005, while he was serving in a region of Iraq known as “the Triangle of Death,” Noah’s Humvee was hit by a bomb and then tumbled down a hill, leaving Noah unconscious in a riverbed. A fellow infantryman found him, thought he was dead, and sat down and prayed.

Remarkably, a few days later—on Christmas Eve—he regained consciousness at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. He had no idea what had happened. When he awoke, his mother had to tell him that one of his arms had been amputated above the elbow and one leg amputated above the knee.

Slowly and steadily, he began to recover. With the help of his hi-tech prosthetic limbs, he eventually regained mobility. That was the proverbial first day of the rest of his life.

Coming Home

When released from the hospital, Noah found out about the Lakeshore Foundation, located in his hometown of Birmingham, Ala. Lakeshore is a non-profit organization with world-class facilities that promote healthy, active and independent lifestyles for individuals with physically disabling conditions. After his first visit, Noah called it “a Mecca for amputees” and credits Lakeshore for coaching him and others to push forward, no matter what their disabilities.

“I was amazed,” he says. At Walter Reed, occupational therapy had taught him basic skills for coping with lost limbs, such as preparing meals with just one hand. “They were preparing us to get back into life,” he says. “Lakeshore has taken that a step further—they show us how to enjoy life. You start thinking, how will I know what I can do unless I try?”

Noah’s introduction to Lakeshore couldn’t have been timed any better. Long known for its other programs for disabled persons—including being a U.S. Olympic and Paralympic training site—Lakeshore had just launched “Operation Lima Foxtrot”—a program specifically developed for severely injured military, in response to the many injured veterans returning from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“Since its inception in 2006, we have served nearly 1,000 injured military and their family members from across the country,” says Mandy Goff, program coordinator director for Lima Foxtrot. It has evolved into six different programs to meet the needs of people according to their specific injuries and goals. All are provided free of charge.

Spreading the Word

Not long after his homecoming, Noah began speaking to community and Veterans groups on behalf of Lakeshore. Mandy says he was a natural fit. “He’s local, he’s a very good public speaker and really passionate about what we do,” she explains. “He’s game for anything that involves serving veterans.”

Specifically, Noah has spoken to a number of groups about a new project called Operation Lakeshore. Initiated by Capstone Companies and Dungan Nequette Architects, the project has been raising money to build cottage-style housing on the Lakeshore campus for injured military and their families while they participate in training programs. The development is set to open on Veterans Day of this year.

“I like to talk,” Noah laughs. “And if I can get the point across, then it just kind of fits. I love speaking on behalf of Lakeshore because I love what they do.”

“Living Like an Average Guy”

While Noah sometimes misses the action of the military, he has fully embraced his new life at home. For one, he has married a woman he’s known since childhood, Tracy, and together they have two children—daughter Rian Elizabeth and son Jack. Noah also has another son, Colston, from a prior marriage.

He also has a new career. Noah had been considering working in radio but was discouraged by many who told him the odds of making it in the business were slim—until a local radio host told him he thought he had what it took to beat those odds. The two became friends, and the radio personality eventually hired him to be on a popular radio show, “Mojo in the Morning.”

Noah says he sometimes feels something like survivor’s guilt that his life is working out so well when he still has friends dying in Iraq and Afghanistan. But at the same time, he hopes he’s setting a good example for people with injuries of any kind.

“You know, I hear stories about injured veterans who’ve climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro, and it’s incredible,” he says. “I might like to do that myself someday. But at the same time, I think, well, I just finished a season with my softball team. And I was the only guy out there who was missing limbs, and it felt great. I feel like I’m showing people that I might be missing two limbs, but I’m going to live life like every other average guy.”

For more information on the Lakeshore Foundation, visit www.lakeshore.org.

REGIONS proudly supports the Lakeshore Foundation.

Visit See the Good E-Cards to send your personal Veterans Day card by clicking on www.seethegood.com/ecards.

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