Capt Larkin O'Hern was living his dream when he was serving as infantry in Afghanistan as a platoon leader of his beloved Renegade 36. He had just married the love of his life a little under a year ago, and he couldn't help but smile at how happy he was with his life.
That dream changed when he was suddenly injured in the explosion of an improvised explosive device set up by a terrorist. Larkin doesn't remember much from that day, just being shipped to Germany to to be healed. When he woke up, he was incredibly overjoyed to see his beautiful wife Rachel right there by his bedside.
Unfortunately, Larkin learned that he had lost both of his legs and an arm in the horrible blast. He quickly began to lose hope for his future.
"I had a lot of my identity wrapped up in being Renegade 36. I was the third platoon leader, those were my 30 guys." Larkin said. "It was hard for me to see that there was anything good left. And she was there to convince me that there was."
Luckily, Rachel was there to support him all throughout his recovery. Because of her, Larkin eventually came to terms with his injuries and realized that his future was still incredibly full of hope and endless possibilities.
Setting up goals for success, the young veteran taught himself to walk and no longer needs a wheelchair. Watch the inspiring video below to see what else Larkin did during his recovery. Thanks to his amazing wife, Larkin built up his self confidence and set the most meaningful goal he could think of. That, by the time his Platoon Sergeant returned home, Larkin wanted to be able to stand so he could give him a hug!
While he still has a way to go, we're so thankful for Larkin and Rachel's sacrifice, while he'll never get his legs back we're overjoyed that he saw that his life is full of possibilities. Thank you Larkin, we hope nothing but the best for you both!
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