Told he may not walk again, disabled veteran races

Iraq veteran overcomes war injury to race in Wilmington Grand Prix
WHYY
ByMark Eichmann
May 18, 2018

“The doctors of course were trying to figure out what’s going on, they’re telling me, ‘Just be prepared to never walk or run again, you’re probably looking at a career-ending type of injury.’ And that was really hard to digest,” Tibbits said.

His bike tires slipped as Brian Tibbits made a practice run up the steep, cobblestoned incline of Wilmington’s Monkey Hill Friday morning. After a week of rain and a forecast for more storms this weekend, Tibbits said he expects the weather to offer a more challenging race course than usual.

“I just don’t feel like I’m going to push it as hard and as fast as I can … I just want to stay safe,” he said after assessing the conditions.

But even riding his bike — let alone riding competitively — is something Tibbits’s doctors thought he might never do.

He had just become a Wilmington Police officer when he was called up to serve in Iraq with the 8th Marine Regiment out of Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.
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