Every Day Heroes

Army Sgt. 1st Class Mike Fairfax, left, a Special Forces intelligence sergeant with Operations Detachment, 3rd Special Forces Group, inspects a soldier's parachute aboard an aircraft over a drop zone above Raeford, N.C. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. 1st Class Jason B. Baker

Meet Sgt. 1st Class John “Mike” Fairfax:

Face of Defense: Amputee Soldier Completes Jumpmaster Course

By Army Sgt. 1st Class Jason B. Baker
Special to American Forces Press Service

FORT BRAGG, N.C., March 5, 2009 – A roadside bomb in Afghanistan cost Army Sgt. 1st Class John “Mike” Fairfax his right leg, but it didn’t take away his spirit.

In November, Fairfax -- a Special Forces intelligence noncommissioned officer assigned to Headquarters Support Company, 3rd Special Forces Group -- became the first amputee soldier to complete the Army’s Jumpmaster Course here.


The journey to Fairfax’s milestone began in the summer of 2005 in a remote region of Afghanistan, when his truck was struck by an improvised explosive device. He suffered a severe injury to his right leg, as well as injuries to his right eye and left lung. His team's medic, Army Sgt. 1st Class Derrick Coyme, quickly went to work to stop the massive bleeding caused by Fairfax’s severed femoral artery.


He knew he was not in the best condition, he said, but he felt committed to recovering from his injuries.


"It never crossed my mind that I wouldn't get back to a team," he said. "My only goal was to get better and continue on with business as usual."


Through several surgeries and battles with infection, doctors were able to save Fairfax’s leg, and he began the long road of rehabilitation. In December 2005, he returned to the group, and his leadership gave him one mission: "Go get better."


Six months later, Fairfax was back to work, but he spent more athan a year struggling with pain. After several surgeries failed to make his leg more functional and reduce the pain, a friend and fellow amputee joked that he should just cut the leg off.


Fairfax gave the option serious consideration. After consulting several doctors and amputee soldiers, he said, he decided to go through with the amputation.


A year prior to the day of his graduation from the Jumpmaster Course, he had the operation to remove his right leg. The next year would be spent dealing with a cycle of rehabilitation and antibiotic-resistant infections. Each time an infection would come back, he was forced to remain off his prosthetic leg.


Once an infection healed, he would have to rebuild the muscle strength to walk in the socket again. When it was time for the Jumpmaster Course, it had been only three weeks since his last bout with an infection and his return to using the prosthetic leg...

Go read the rest of this great story here.

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