PHILADELPHIA-- Army Sergeant Dan Rose can walk, which is something he thought would never happen again after a fateful battlefield reality violently changed Dan’s life on April 27, 2011. On that date, Rose was serving in Afghanistan and his platoon was performing “route clearance”. It was during one of these daily missions that his truck was hit with 1,000 pounds of explosives. The heavily armored Humvee; blown apart into two pieces, unbelievably left all the occupants alive, however Rose was left paralyzed from the chest down.
“We had a 100% success rating finding IED’s… (improvised explosive devices) till that day”.- Dan Rose
While we have heard countless stories of Veterans who have returned from the battlefield with life-altering injuries and struggle to regain that sense of self they had prior to their departure, Rose refused to let his injury define him. Prior to his injury he led an active lifestyle which was the foundation for his commitment to overcome horrible reality, he was quickly involved in a variety of adaptive sports. From downhill skiing to wheelchair racing, no sport meant to define character, has been beyond his reach. Rose has found a way to do what he loves, in spite of his physical limitations. Yet even with all of that positive energy in his life, there was always an unshakable feeling of immense loss; that feeling most profoundly expressed after first standing again.
“I had given up on walking and thought of it as a pipe dream, so to be able to stand on my own two feet and walk across a room was a very emotional experience,” Rose said.
Rose gained the ability to walk again thanks to an “Ekso Bionics” suit, a motorized exoskeleton that provides paralysis victims the strength, endurance and mobility needed to walk. The suit was donated to him by SoldierStrong, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping American military veterans overcome major injuries sustained while defending our great nation. By utilizing state-of-the-art bionic exoskeleton suits and the latest in robotic prosthetics, they are able to provide spinal cord injured and limb-injured veterans with the tools that have revolutionized the physical life enhancement and rehabilitation process once only imagined. “SoldierStrong is able to give our nation’s heroes the ability to successfully move onto productive quality lives. It’s thanks to this incredible organization that heroes like Rose are able to take their next steps forward!” Stated Soul Co-Owner Cosmo DeNicola.
“Wearing the device, standing eye to eye with people is like standing on top of a mountain. I want to thank the Philadelphia Soul for their support ensuring my fellow veterans have that same experience.” – Dan Rose