Throwback Thursday! Travis Mills Veteran/Quad Amputee

For our very first Throwback Thursday episode we celebrate the bravery of our men and women that have served in the United States Armed Services!  

In this episode we will discuss not just continuing life after a horrific injury, but excelling and living life to it's fullest, minus two arms and two legs.  On April 10, 2012, United States Army Staff Sergeant Travis Mills of the 82nd Airborne was critically injured on his third tour of duty in Afghanistan by an IED (improvised explosive device) while on patrol, losing portions of both legs and both arms.

In September 2013, Travis and his wife Kelsey founded the Travis Mills Foundation, a nonprofit organization, formed to benefit and assist post 9/11 veterans who have been injured in active duty or as a result of their service to our nation. The veteran and their families receive an all-inclusive, all-expenses paid, barrier-free vacation to Maine where they participate in adaptive activities, bond with other veteran families, and enjoy much-needed rest and relaxation in Maine’s great outdoors.

If you are in a giving mood this year, the Travis Mills Foundation is a great way to give back to injured Veterans!  (DONATE HERE)

TRANSCRIPT

PodcastDX-Quad_Amputee

 

Lita T  00:10

Hello and welcome to another episode of podcast dx. The show that brings you interviews with people just like you whose lives were forever changed by a medical diagnosis. I'm Lita

 

Ron  00:22

I'm Ron,

 

Jean  00:23

and I'm a pina colada.

 

Lita T  00:24

You're not a pina colada she's Jean Marie. Collectively we're the hosts of PodcastDX. On today's show we're speaking with Travis Mills. Travis, if you're not familiar with him by now is the quadruple amputee from an Afghanistan IED and we're going to hear more about his story in a little bit. And he also is running a foundation that provides R&R services more or less for other veterans that have been injured. Is that right Travis?

 

Travis  00:55

Yeah, absolutely it for physically injured and now we're moving towards all injuries.

 

Lita T  01:00

Great, great. Well, welcome to the show. Go ahead, Ron

 

Ron  01:05

Travis. Hi, this is Ron. Again. Thank you for joining us today on our show. First, I would like to start off by saying thank you for your service to our country.

 

Travis  01:15

Well, no, I appreciate it. Thank you so much. And I'm excited to be here. I'm looking forward to hanging out with you guys for a bit. Yeah!

 

Ron  01:21

 I read a bit about your injuries and your recovery. I gotta say, I am amazed by your determination and your tenacity. It seems like you've overcome a lot of challenges since April of 2012. Could you tell our listeners a little bit about that day? didn't it just start off as a regular day for you.

 

Travis  01:41

You know, it did we were on our, you know, deployment. I was supposed to be there for nine months as my third deployment. And we had a phone call come in from the village elder that there was some IEDs we had a checkout. So we put our gear on like normal. We went on patrol and try to help them out. And we went, you know, the same routes that we always would take not the same routes, the same general direction. And I had the guy in front of me with the Minesweeper and swept the ground once again, twice like we are protocol. And it just didn't alarm that there's anything under the soil. So I happened to take my backpack off and I put it on the ground. And then the bomb went off. You know it. It shocked my world to be honest with you.

 

Lita T  02:19

Well that's For sure.

 

Jean  02:21

Yeah. I can't even imagine what you were going what was going through your mind at that time? Probably. Yeah, shock. What were the next steps after you were evacuated from the site where you were actually injured. For instance, how soon after the attack, were you transferred back stateside? And was there an intermediate location or two for immediate surgical repair?

 

Travis  02:40

Well, I mean, what they did was, like I hit, my arm right side was completely gone, my right leg was completely gone. They disintegrated and they're found those pieces of me my left leg was snapped to the bone actually. So if you imagine the left ankle bone touching the left thigh, and my left wrist was blown out pretty bad. I hit the ground and rolled over on my back and I saw the aftermath. And in my head, I kept seeing the movie, Saving Private Ryan. And I thought you know about the medic that gets shot stomachs and then he cries out for his mom and ultimately died. I had I said no way like that ever remember me to freaking out or complaining or crying or feeling awful, you know begging not to die basically. Because at the end of the day, it's not my choice and I'm always wanting to exude confidence never showed fear, I led from the front and you know, I just, you never do that as a leader. So I calmed myself down, my medic worked on one side of me my Platoon Sergeant worked on the other side of me, they got four tourniquets on and then I with my left hand that was still left on my body. I reached up and grabbed my microphone and I called my Lieutenant I said, Hey, 6 this is 4 I got guys injured. I need your medic with mine. two of my soldiers got hit. So I you know, I called them and they radio back they sent Doc Voyce over. And Doc Voyce came to work on me, we're working on you know, my other men, and then me. I had to kind of calm him down he was in, stuck on repeat, you know like an old CD we could skip start skipping, he was doing what his training taught him to do so I kept saying "You'll be fine Sgt Mills, you'll be Okay, You'll be fine Sgt Mills, you'll be Okay,  he kept working he just kept saying it. I had to look at Doc Voyce and say "Hey Doc Just do your job. It's fine." And they got me on the helicopter about 10 minutes after Doc Voyce got there so really about 12 to 15 minutes being injured I was on a helicopter and I was transported to Kandahar hospital where I didn't know this then and I'm happy that it's, you know, a known fact now but 99% of patients that make it to Kandahar hospital leave Kandahar hospital alive.

 

Jean  04:36

That's amazing

 

Travis  04:36

And yeah, so they started wheeling me right into surgery as 14 hours of surgery took me into and just a wonderful team of nine doctors and seven nurses working for 14 hours straight to put me back to, well not put me back together I guess. that I was laying around with prosthetics but to you know, heal up my wounds and...

 

Lita T  04:56

Saved your life

 

Jean  04:57

Stabilize

 

Lita T  04:58

 They saved your life, yeah,

 

Jean  04:59

yeah.

 

Travis  05:00

Yeah, absolutely.

 

Lita T  05:01

I'm guessing that those medics at the at the frontline are really the ones that saved your life. I know this wasn't something we were going to talk about, but do you stay in contact with those guys?

 

Travis  05:10

Oh, I do. Yeah, actually, um, you know, I know very fast forward but my wife and I had another child fortunately. So we have two now. And my son's name is DAX. Oh, he DAX is for medics, Daniel and Alexander as those who made it possible. Somebody will like name my kid in their honor. So  that was great. My wife kind of came up with the idea of more than I was going for Travis Fieldyen Mills the second but she said no

 

Lita T  05:29

That's amazing  (laughter)

 

Travis  05:39

 I name everything after myself, my my business, my foundation, you know,

 

Lita T  05:44

At least everybody knows where they're going.

 

Jean  05:45

It worked for George Foreman, so why not?

 

Travis  05:48

Exactly.

 

Lita T  05:49

According to the Department of Defense, as of January 2018, more than 1500 service members have lost limbs in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, since all of this started in 2001, and an article back in 2018. In July, it pushed the number up to 1900 and 14. So 1914 Have you met any other amputees since you have been injured yourself?

 

Travis  06:21

Had I, you mean previously or since?

 

Lita T  06:23

no since then?

 

Travis  06:25

Oh, yes. At the hospital that we had a bunch of better, everybody at the hospital was an amputee

 

Lita T  06:30

Okay. Okay. So this is a very common wartime injury currently correct.

 

Travis  06:37

Oh, yeah. Yeah, but it's common to the hospital. So like, I had no idea like patient things like that. I mean, you figure you lose a leg, your life's over. Like it's gonna be the worst thing ever. And, you know, I got to the hospital and when I find it, they woke me up from a medical sedation. I was kind of like questioning why that person got hate me. What would I do wrong in life, talking to your husband and father and you know, the biggest thing I wonder is, why not just die? Like, how is this better? And in truth, I didn'twant to talk to my wife, my mom and dad at all that my parents didn't want to deal with the situation. But then I got to, you know, wake up, my brother in law was in the room, he was in the Military as well,  a friend of mine, I met his sister, my wife, and my parents, my wife, and I did. And then I didn't really have a conversation with them. It's kind of like, I don't want to talk about this, I want to deal with it. But finally, I got to meet Todd Nicely. He was a quadruple amputee, I'm actually one of five, I'm the fourth one out of five of us, and he walked into my room was like, Hey, man, you're gonna be fine. You're gonna walk again, you're gonna drive again, you're going to feed yourself, you know, you do everything you need to do by yourself. And I know doesn't sound like it, but you're gonna be independent. And I'm sorry. And that was all the, you know, the motivation I needed.

 

Lita T  07:48

So they kind of turn you around you think?

 

Travis  07:51

You know, my wife, and I thought she should leave me. Turn me like okay, let's get better. I won't be a burden on anybody. I mean, I'm very demanding husband. Unfortunately, you know that I expect a lot of help things but I'm very lucky my wife stayed. My daughter was six months old when I got hit. So she was there more with me every day. And I actually learned how to walk with my daughter kind of cool. You know, little thing me and her have

 

Lita T  08:15

That's so cool

 

Travis  08:16

 so and she's eight years old. She goes, and she tells people, you know, I taught my dad how to walk.

 

Lita T  08:22

So cool, I love that. Yeah, it's gonna be hard to not tear up right now.

 

Jean  08:27

Yeah, especially after watching the movie with the two of you,

 

Lita T  08:30

right?

 

Jean  08:31

 Yeah, she was right there for your physical therapy and everything and your wife was right there too. And it's, that's amazing.

 

Travis  08:36

Oh, absolutely.

 

Lita T  08:38

After that. They got you back, you know, alive and somewhat functioning. Did they give you the chance to remain in the military in any status like you know, just state side desk side or do they just tell you this is it

 

Travis  08:53

you know, they did actually General Odierno and the Sergeant Major of the Army at the time came in Chandler came in talking to the hospital about, Hey, you know, we'd love to have you stay in, you can go around and maybe present on behalf of the military and I teared off and I said, Look, I plan on doing 20 years, gentlemen, but not like this. And my time has come to an end. I can't be Infantry anymore. I can't, you know, be airborne anymore. And as sad as it was to come to that realization, it was just, it was time. I think I made jokes and I really don't want to get restationed anywhere. And General Odierno said, I don't think we restation Sergeant Mills. I don't think so either, sir, but I'm going to call it today. I appreciate this conversation, you know, cuz it was emotional. I planned on 20 years at whole career path lined up, but it just didn't work out for me and that's okay. Cuz like, you know, it's gonna play some curveballs and you got to keep pushing forward and do the best you can and I feel like I've taken that curveball, and that's kind of knocked out of the park with everybody that helps. 

 

Lita T  09:53

That's super

 

Ron  09:55

Travis, I've seen some of your videos on YouTube. Absolutely. Amazing. And I could tell you're a pretty humorous guy. How did your humor and your personality I guess, how did it help you with the recovery process? And how long after the amputations where you fitted for the prosthetic that you wear?

 

Travis  10:18

Well, the humor that I have came back right to me. I met in fact, one day, I was sitting there in my hospital bed, the hallway from the nurses, and I could see them holding their like change of shift brief and I started yelling, oh, my legs, my arms and legs where did they go?  How did this happen? And I'm just joking to get their attention. And a little 10 year old walked by, and I was like, Oh, I'm just kidding. Sorry. Girls, like I'm so sorry. But, of course, you have the humor. And I think the best compliment and sometimes the worst compliment that I get is that I'm the same person that I was for the injury. So depending on who says it, you know, if you know somebody that's a friend of mine that grew up with says that's awesome, but if it's like a like a Maybe old school teacher from high school. Oh, sorry.

 

Ron  11:02

Yeah.

 

Travis  11:05

 But as far as my prosthetic, I was able to get fitted after five weeks time, so a relatively short period. And then seven weeks and four days, I was able to start walking again so just shy of two months. I took my very first steps at Walter Reed. I mean, it was a short, legs a very different feel from walking, but I was starting my comeback,

 

Jean  11:24

right? It's amazingly fast.

 

Lita T  11:...