Mike Fradera, a member of the Achilles Freedom Team of Wounded Veterans, takes off one of his prosthetic legs as he prepares to get onto his hand-crank wheelchair to practice for the Disney Half Marathon at Disney's Shades of Green Hotel on Jan. 6, 2011. (Stephen M. Dowell/Orlando Sentinel / January 4, 2011)
Darryl E. Owens
COMMENTARY
11:10 p.m. EST, January 7, 2011
Three years ago, after losing his legs to a roadside blast in Iraq, Mike Fradera lay in a Texas Army hospital bed, going stir-crazy.
He craved the freedom that a new set of government-issued limbs promised.
Three years later, padding around on his metallic limbs is second nature. Still, it's only when Fradera ditches his legs and climbs into his hand-crank wheelchair that his soul runs free.
"I feel liberated" in a way that his prosthetic legs wouldn't allow, says Fradera, 33, of Lakeland. "There're a lot of limitations to what you can do with missing legs."
Limitations that seem miles away when he cranks his three-wheeler, as he showed last year in winning the wheelchair crank division of the Walt Disney World Half Marathon.
"You're doing 20 mph and you're pushing yourself and you've got the wind in your face and you're flying down that road, you feel a sense of freedom and a sense of accomplishment of crossing that finish line," Fradera says.
This morning, he defends his title at Disney. But he won't be alone. A platoon of 11 wounded warriors — all staying at Disney's Shades of Green military resort — will join the retired Army staff sergeant. Their mission: prove to themselves — and everyone else — that combat may have stolen their limbs, but not their ability to accomplish great things.
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Injured warriors face a different fight today
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