LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — Rocco Besednjak loves working out. He always has.
“I started lifting. I come to the gym now four, five times a week,” Besendjak said. “The first day I was in the gym, I was in there for two and half hours straight.”
The passion for exercise was always tied to the job for Besednjak.
From his four years in the Navy to six years as an officer with the Shepherdsville Police Department.
“I started to see the impact of drugs on people’s families. When I would catch people who were drug addicts, I would talk to them,” Besednjak said. “I’m actually friends with quite a few of them now who’ve reached out after the fact and essentially said I saved their life.”
A lifelong passion, a duty to protect and serve.
That was taken away from Besednjak in 2016 during a traffic stop that became anything but ordinary.
“I ran the plate, and it showed the driver had a suspended license. Come to find out, she had three or four felony warrants,” Besednjak said. “I bent over to try and get the keys out of her hand. I got stuck between the steering wheel and her with the door open. She dragged me about 50 feet, made a right hand turn. I rolled out the door, hit the curb on my upper back and neck, and she ran over my legs.”
What was first diagnosed as a neck and shoulder strain quickly became a more serious issue.
Besednjak had four herniated disks each in his neck and lower back.
To this day, he’s had eight spinal surgeries to help get him to full strength.
While that seems like a grueling challenge, Besednjak feels lucky to be alive.
He was saved, quite literally, by his body.
“The doctor actually told me; he said if I wasn’t the size that I was, I would’ve been dead or paralyzed from the neck down,” Besednjak said.
While alive, Besednjak was far from well.
Forced to retire from the police department and unable to exercise like he used to, Besednjak became depressed and even suicidal for a time.
It wasn’t until he started physical therapy that he rediscovered his love for working out, regaining the piece of him he thought was lost forever.
"I went seven years thinking I'd never be able to do that again. It was like being able to be the old me again,” Besednjak said.
As he regained his physical strength, Besednjak was inspired to help others to do the same.
That’s how the nonprofit Camp Hero was born, aimed at being a safe space for injured veterans and first responders to visit and feel comfortable opening up about their problems, whether they are physical, mental, or emotional.
“If you don't have bad days, you don't have anything to compare your good days to,” Besednjak said. “I use that as my motivation just to make it through. I know how many people I'm helping with what I'm doing."
If you want to learn more about Camp Hero, click here.
