Disabled service members gather for Fla. festival

Disabled service members gather for Fla. festival
By LISA ORKIN EMMANUEL
Associated Press Writer
MIAMI -- Army Specialist Chris Miller was injured in Iraq last fall and has since had his right leg amputated below the knee along with part of left foot. He hadn't been to a beach in three years.

He used to play ice hockey and wants to get back to doing that. Until then though, he will settle for a little scuba diving.

Miller and a group of 17 service members joined hundreds of disabled people Friday for a four-day No Barriers Festival, which includes classes in scuba diving, sailing and an appearance by an amputee pony with a prosthetic leg. It is being held at the Shake-A-Leg Miami Sea Base in Coconut Grove.

The service members were brought to the festival by the Wounded Warrior Disabled Sports Project, which provides year-round sports programs for severely wounded service members and veterans from recent conflicts.

Staff Sgt. Earl Granville, 25, was injured in Afghanistan last summer during a patrol. The vehicle he was in struck a roadside bomb. Four people were in the vehicle, two lived. His left leg had to be amputated through the knee. His right leg was salvaged. He already knows how to scuba dive. He said he used to run and play soccer.


Neal Cabanting, 19, got an infection in his left leg during Army basic training and had to get it amputated in January.
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Disabled service members gather for Fla. festival