Chad has always thrived on activity and adventure. “When I was younger, my family would go on trail rides with quads and Jeeps." When it came time to choose a life path, he knew he had to pursue something that would satisfy that thirst for adventure. After talking to a recruiter, he decided to enlist in the United States Marine Corps.

Chad was deployed to a combat zone in Marjah, Afghanistan. During this deployment, he suffered an injury and was forced to spend weeks in the hospital. In spite of this, he recovered, rejoined his unit, finished his deployment, and returned safely home.

Months later, Chad realized his country needed him once more.

Though it pained him to leave his wife again, he raised his hand to serve. “I volunteered since they needed more men." Before deployment, most feel nervousness and excitement. Chad felt overwhelming joy from the news his wife had just shared: she was pregnant with their first child.

Chad’s unit spent the winter clearing the Taliban's mountain villages. By spring, they had worked their way down to Sangin Valley.

On May 26, 2012, tragedy struck.

“Four of us went in to clear a tunnel when two of our men came upon an IED." The blast killed one Marine instantly and injured another. When Chad and his brothers rushed to render aide, the injured Marine sat up, accidentally triggering a second IED. The blast killed the already-wounded Marine, and severely injured Chad. "I was blown about 20 feet into the entrance of a tunnel."

Chad recalls the moments after the blast. "I remember looking down and seeing my left foot was turned backward and the inside of my right thigh was gone. I could see my femur." Still conscious, Chad scrambled for his tourniquet to tie off his legs and stop the bleeding.

He was seriously wounded, but alive. That wasn't the end of his fight. “I had another 30 trips to the operating room."

While in the hospital, his first child, Emma, was born.

Chad spent weeks recovering in the hospital. Making the best of a bad situation, he used this time to bond with his new baby girl. "We joke that Emma and I learned to walk at the same time.”

However, after several years of using prosthetics for his right leg and left foot, the devices started causing Chad more pain and infections. He faced an impossible decision: continue on in pain or amputate his left leg below the knee.

"It is not a decision I regret," he said with certainty. "But it does bring new challenges to my life.” Today, the house where his family lives is no longer accessible to Chad.

“There are parts of my house that I simply can’t get to without difficulty. My wife has to carry up all the groceries so I can hop up the stairs on crutches. Then she has to bring my chair up."