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Black, White and Indomitable


I had the privilege of taking this photograph of Staff Sgt. Sebastiana Lopez Arellano, pictured here. Background: She was riding a motorcycle "...when an animal scurried onto the road, causing her to swerve and hit a curb. As she high-sided over her bike, the momentum catapulted her body into a tree... She suffered an amputated leg, several broken bones, ripped arteries and organs, nerve damage and serious hand injuries that prevent her from fully opening them. As she recovered, the former C-17 Globemaster III crew chief found comfort in sports and fitness. A year after her crash, she competed in the Air Force Trials for wounded warriors and gained confidence by earning invitations to the Invictus and Warrior Games. In early May, she captured two gold medals in rugby and hand cycling, and three silvers in shotput, discus and in another hand cycling event at the Invictus Games. Lopez contends in several other sports, such as wheelchair racing, hand cycling, shotput, shooting, and sitting volleyball. She makes an effort not to dwell on what lies ahead in life. By staying in the present, Lopez said she and other amputees can conquer tasks that were once thought out of reach.” Narrative condensed from: http://www.af.mil/…/no-limits-airman-pushes-past-near-deat…/

I had the privilege of taking this photograph of Staff Sgt. Sebastiana Lopez Arellano, pictured here.

Background: She was riding a motorcycle "...when an animal scurried onto the road, causing her to swerve and hit a curb. As she high-sided over her bike, the momentum catapulted her body into a tree... She suffered an amputated leg, several broken bones, ripped arteries and organs, nerve damage and serious hand injuries that prevent her from fully opening them.

As she recovered, the former C-17 Globemaster III crew chief found comfort in sports and fitness. A year after her crash, she competed in the Air Force Trials for wounded warriors and gained confidence by earning invitations to the Invictus and Warrior Games. In early May, she captured two gold medals in rugby and hand cycling, and three silvers in shotput, discus and in another hand cycling event at the Invictus Games. Lopez contends in several other sports, such as wheelchair racing, hand cycling, shotput, shooting, and sitting volleyball.

She makes an effort not to dwell on what lies ahead in life. By staying in the present, Lopez said she and other amputees can conquer tasks that were once thought out of reach.”

Narrative condensed from: http://www.af.mil/…/no-limits-airman-pushes-past-near-deat…/


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