Fighting blind
Subtitle: a Green Beret's story of extraordinary courage
By: Major Ivan Castro and Jim DeFelice
Contributors: DeFelice, Jim, 1956- author
Edition: First edition.
Published: 2016
Language: eng
Number of pages: 291
ISBN-13: 9781250076540; 9781250136022
Subjects: Blind; Blind athletes; Male long-distance runners; Officers; United States; American Personal narratives; Soldiers; Iraq War, 2003-2011; United States. Army. Special Forces; Biography
Description: "Fighting was a practiced routine for Lieutenant Ivan Castro. But when a mortar round struck the rooftop of his sniper's post in Iraq, he found himself in a battle more difficult than even he could have imagined. The direct hit killed two other soldiers and nearly claimed Castro's life as well. Mangled by shrapnel and badly burned, Castro was medevac'd to Germany more dead than alive. His lungs were collapsed. He couldn't hear. One eye had been blown out, the nerve to the other severed. In the weeks and months that followed, Castro would find that physical darkness was nothing compared to the emotional darkness of loss and despair. Desperate for a reason to live, he eventually fought his way back to health through exercise and a single-minded goal: running a marathon. Once he set his course, there was no stopping him. Stubborn to a point that at times bordered on insanity, he managed not only to recover but to return to active duty. Since 2007, he has run over two dozen marathons, including the Boston Marathon in 2013, where he was one of the runners diverted when the bombs exploded. Today, Castro he helps prepare soldiers for combat, working exactly as if he were "sighted." This frankly told account of his struggle through adversity, the highs and lows and the always bumpy road in between, is a story of hope and perseverance against the odds: an Unbroken for the present generation, "--Baker & Taylor.
Table of contents: title: Early days; title: War & the ugly; title: Not worth living; title: Blind man running; title: Living is the only revenge; title: Gone dark.