ROB JONES - Bronze Medal Winning Paralympian | US Marine Corps Veteran (S01E11)

"Catch You On The Flip Side" - Podcast with Rob Jones

Rob joined the Marine Corps Reserve as a combat engineer at Bravo Company, 4th Combat Engineer Battalion in Roanoke, VA. In the Marine Corps, combat engineers are responsible for a multitude of disciplines but the primary role that him and his fellow combat engineers undertook was the use of explosives, and the detection of buried IEDs and weapons caches. 

Rob deployed to Habbaniyah, Iraq in 2008, and again to Delaram/Sangin, Afghanistan in 2010. During his deployment to Afghanistan while operating as a part of a push into Taliban territory, he was tasked with clearing an area with a high likelihood of containing an IED. It was in this capacity that he was wounded in action by a land mine. The injury resulted in a left knee dis-articulation and a right above knee amputation of my legs. 

He was taken to National Naval Medical Centre in Bethesda, MD for the initial phases of his recovery, which consisted primarily of healing and closing my wounds. He was then transferred to Walter Reed Army Medical Centre for the remainder of his rehabilitation. At Walter Reed he was fitted with prosthetics and worked very hard to learn how to walk with two bionic knees. he also used the time to relearn how to do other things with his new challenge including riding a bicycle, running, and rowing. Rob took naturally to rowing, and since he was always in search of a challenge that he can use to become better, Rob decided to train for the 2012 Paralympics.

After being honourably discharged from the Marine Corps in December 2011, he immediately moved to Florida to train with his rowing partner, Oksana. He then moved to Charlottesville, Virginia to continue training until the Paralympics in September 2012. The hard work paid off for them as they brought home a bronze medal in the event. Rob continued in the sport of rowing through the 2013 season, where his partner and Rob placed 4th in the 2013 World Rowing Championships.  

On October 14, 2013 he began a solo supported bike ride across America which started in Bar Harbour, Maine, and ended in Camp Pendleton, California.  The ride was 5,180 miles long and completed on April 13, 2014, a total of 181 days after it began.  Over the course of the ride, along with his team, he raised $126,000 for three charities which aid wounded veterans.

In the fall of 2017, with the support of an incredible team, Rob accomplished my goal to run 31 marathons in 31 days in 31 different cities.  Beginning on Oct 12 in London, England and finishing on Nov 11 in Washington, DC, Rob ran 26.2 miles for 31 consecutive days in 31 major cities in the UK, Canada, and USA.  In conjunction with this, his team raised over $200,000.

Check out more of Rob below:

http://instagram.com/robjonesjourney

https://twitter.com/RobJonesJourney

https://www.facebook.com/robjonesjourney/

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Thanks for watching

Dan

"catch you on the flip side"