Former U.S. Marine Daniel Riley has no legs. While deployed to Afghanistan, an IED explosion took them. For me, that is unimaginable. Not only the tour in Afghanistan, or suffering an IED explosion, or even losing two of my legs. All that is unimaginable as well. But the most unimaginable is how he picks up his head, and continues to march forward through rehab and re-entry.
And to make his story even more amazing and inspiring, he now has a big ol’ smile stretching from ear to ear.
Why? He absolutely loves to ski. On top of everything he goes through simply trying to get back to the basics, the warrior makes it to Vail at least once a month, traveling from his home in San Diego. Last season, he put in 60 days on the mountain. 60 days. That is more than I clock and I live a couple hours from the mountains I ride.
“I learned how to ski here, and skiing changed the way I live,” Riley says. “Vail was an important part of defining how I recovered from my injuries in Afghanistan. Every day I come to Vail, I leave happy.”
If only we would be so lucky to have the spirit Riley has. With people like him in mind, it is damn difficult to not appreciate each breath you take on your mountain, wherever or whatever your mountain is.
