It was May 2, 2009, and Max Rohn, a hospital corpsman in the U.S. Navy, was in the third vehicle of a convoy headed for the Camp Baharia Marine Corps Base just outside of Fallujah, Iraq.   

"On our drive back, my vehicle was hit by an RPG-3 grenade. My door came open and punched a hole right next to my right leg," says Rohn.

Over the next two years, Rohn underwent fourteen surgeries in an attempt to repair the damage to his right leg. His fifteenth surgery removed the leg, just below the knee.  

"When you're hurt in the hospital, the first thing you always say is, 'When do I get to go back?' Then you start coming to grips with it," he says. "That's when you make some kind of claim to either getting back to where you were or doing something like a physical accomplishment. With a physical injury, you have to do some kind of physical activity to counterbalance it."   

So Rohn began competing in the Warrior Games, a Paralympic-style event for U.S. service members and veterans. That's where where he first met Penn State Ability Athletics Coach Teri Jordan.