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Think You Have It Tough?
An Ex-Marine, Coming Back From Severe Injuries, Follows an Intense Regime He Calls a ‘Livelihood’
By JAMES WAGNER, Wall Street Journal. Please visit WSJ for full accounting of the article.
In April 2003, corporal Hector Delgado lay in an induced coma on a Navy ship in the Persian Gulf. His pelvis had been crushed into six pieces and his legs and nerves were mangled after a fuel tank fell on him while he was with the Marines in Iraq.
The accident kept him in a hospital for a year. His right foot was paralyzed and his left foot was partially damaged. Mr. Delgado, who often has to use a wheelchair, fell into what he calls a three-year “funk.” His weight ballooned to 230 pounds, his cholesterol shot up, and he was smoking and going to bars every night.
“When I got out of the hospital, I could care less,” says Mr. Delgado, 30. The accident left him three inches shorter than what he was before deployment.
But in 2008, a friend mentioned a vigorous cross-training routine, CrossFit, often used by military special forces. Mr. Delgado was enticed by the workout’s intensity and variety, and liked the camaraderie of the exercisers.
He now works out five times a week and keeps a strict eating regime. His 5-foot-6 frame is down to 149 pounds, and he now has the strength to walk short distances unassisted.
At this point, [working out] is more of a livelihood than anything,” says Mr. Delgado, who lives in North Patchogue, N.Y.
Mr. Delgado is an outreach worker at the Queens Vet Center in New York, where he educates other veteran organizations and service members about military benefits and support programs. He is also earning his Bachelor’s degree in education and psychology at St. Joseph’s College.
Want to read the rest of the article? Go to the WSJ.
Write to James Wagner at james.wagner@wsj.com
