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A disabled Army veteran in North Georgia is given a life-changing all-terrain wheelchair. In 2012, Jason Smith stepped on an IED while on ground patrol in Afghanistan. He survived the blast, but he had tissue damage from the shrapnel and had to have both of his legs amputated below the knee. After months of therapy, Jason learned to walk again with the use of prosthetics, but there were some things that he couldn’t do.
This week, Jason got back some of the mobility that his injuries have prevented when veteran charity organization Freedom Alliance gave him an all-terrain wheelchair. "I have two children who like to run and play, and I can't keep up like I used to be able to,” Jason says. “This will allow me to get up and go places I wasn't able to.” Jason was one of 60 veterans across the county to be given one of the wheelchairs, which will help them regain some of their independence.
Jason, who has had a tough road of overcoming the physical and mental injuries from his service, is grateful for the gift from Freedom Alliance. "Thank you for another ability to get out and play in the mud with my kids, thank you for giving me the opportunity to play in the snow,” he says. “Just the overall maneuvering is going to be so much better and life changing for me."
Source: Local 3 News