On November 26, 2003, Centra “CeCe” Mazyc says she was doing a routine jump in the Army when the wind caused her parachute to collide with another jumper and as she hit the ground, she was instantly paralyzed from the waist down.
Mazyc is one of nearly 5 million disabled American veterans, but she's hardly let her serious injury hold her back.
Through the help of the nonprofit Disabled American Veterans, she was able to get back into her athletic nature.
“It was the first time in my injury that I was able to do things like ski and walk, climb and scuba dive, things that I didn't know that I’d ever be able to do,” said Mazyc. “So, that was an important step in my rehabilitation process, and it proved to me that physical disability does not bar the doors to freedom at all, not mine.”
That support and Mazyc’s competitive drive took her all the way to the 2012 Paralympic Games, where she threw the javelin.
Disabled American Veterans helps more than 1 million veterans a year with things like access to education, health care and employment.
They also provided unemployment financial relief during the pandemic to laid off veterans.
Disabled American Veterans produced a new documentary around 100 years of war and wounded servicemen and women. It's called “The Battle Never Ends.” It airs on the Military HISTORY Channel and on-demand.
