WEBVTT

00:03.237 --> 00:05.408
- [Mark] My name is Master Sergeant Mark Mann.

00:05.408 --> 00:06.911
^I always wanted to be in the military.

00:06.911 --> 00:09.538
^I went to the recruiting offices.

00:09.538 --> 00:10.804
^I chose the toughest service.

00:10.804 --> 00:13.221
I just wanted to be the best.

00:13.258 --> 00:16.425
I was involved in an accident in 2013.

00:16.810 --> 00:18.246
A car turned right in front of me.

00:18.246 --> 00:19.917
I was going down the street on my motorcycle.

00:19.917 --> 00:21.195
I don't remember the accident,

00:21.195 --> 00:22.923
but there was no time to brake,

00:22.923 --> 00:24.963
and I hit it at full speed.

00:24.963 --> 00:28.380
A dislocated foot, and it was fractured.

00:28.836 --> 00:31.432
My arm was fractured from the elbow to the wrist.

00:31.432 --> 00:35.250
I also sustained a TBI, a traumatic brain injury.

00:35.250 --> 00:37.200
I hadn't heard much about Wounded Warrior Regiment

00:37.200 --> 00:38.619
before I got injured.

00:38.619 --> 00:39.702
I knew of it.

00:39.929 --> 00:42.447
Like most Marines, I didn't know too much.

00:42.447 --> 00:46.340
Once I got hurt, I learned a lot quick, fast, in a hurry.

00:46.340 --> 00:49.507
They were a major part in my recovery.

00:49.588 --> 00:51.631
In the Marines, we had similar injuries.

00:51.631 --> 00:53.528
They helped me out because they had similar injuries,

00:53.528 --> 00:54.496
and they could give me advice

00:54.496 --> 00:57.363
on things I could do to help myself.

00:57.363 --> 01:00.664
When I saw the people with worse injuries than me,

01:00.664 --> 01:02.310
it just gave me the motivation to strive

01:02.310 --> 01:04.215
and to keep pushing hard.

01:04.215 --> 01:05.985
They were worse off than I was.

01:05.985 --> 01:07.014
I had no excuse.

01:07.014 --> 01:08.597
I had to push hard.

01:09.364 --> 01:11.405
I wasn't the man who I was before.

01:11.405 --> 01:13.571
I needed to, I honestly got into the sports

01:13.571 --> 01:15.488
to rehabilitate myself.

01:15.681 --> 01:18.086
I needed to rehabilitate basically my whole body,

01:18.086 --> 01:20.973
shoulders, legs, hand-eye coordination.

01:20.973 --> 01:23.063
Archery was great for that.

01:23.063 --> 01:24.689
Then later I learned about cycling.

01:24.689 --> 01:26.132
I got into my first cycling race

01:26.132 --> 01:28.155
at the McCormick trials a couple years back.

01:28.155 --> 01:31.100
I just got hooked, and I love the strategy.

01:31.100 --> 01:33.267
I just kept going with it.

01:34.271 --> 01:36.938
It helped me get that full body recovery I needed.

01:36.938 --> 01:39.641
I'm very grateful for the opportunities

01:39.641 --> 01:41.431
that the Marine Corps has given me,

01:41.431 --> 01:45.270
that the regiment has given me, just to come to the games.

01:45.270 --> 01:48.895
You can compete in trials, and Invictus later on this year.

01:48.895 --> 01:53.062
So I'm very, very grateful for the opportunities.