FORT LIBERTY, NC., — For a six foot-five infantryman, Staff Sgt. Abel Baez\u2019s pain is just something he dealt with for quite a long time. \u201cI\u2019m infantry\u2026 we go by the motto if you got pain drink water – if you still have pain drink more water.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
All joking aside, Baez explained how he dealt with years of pain from an ACL and meniscus tear that was surgically fixed but not healed as it should. \u201cI tore my left ACL back in 2014 I had a cadaver (ligament) put in and I learned my body didn\u2019t accept it,\u201d he said. \u201cI started feeling pain and had it seen again in 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He went to the Fort Stewart Soldier Recovery Unit to recover when he had to have it fixed again. It was there Baez learned about adaptive sports as a recovery tool. \u201cI\u2019ve always been very competitive so when I learned they try to help keep that competitive drive alive in you regardless of your condition, recovering with adaptive sports is what I did,\u201d said Baez. \u201cI started going to wheelchair basketball and sitting volleyball and it got my head out of a lot of problems and concerns with my body.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It also kept his mind busy. Baez learned after 18 years he would medically retire. \u201cThat\u2019s one of the things you face when you\u2019ve been doing something you love for so long and then they tell you, that you can\u2019t do it anymore,\u201d he added. \u201cYou need to find something to get your head out of the gutter so to speak.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Baez said he was stunned to learn of the Army Recovery Care Program after such a long time in service. He is most grateful for the myriad of ways he was afforded help to recover and overcome.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe programs they (SRU) offer have been great,\u201d said Baez. \u201cIt gives you opportunities to see what options you have and what you can do. That\u2019s another reason the SRU is so great because not only does it help you mentally with adaptive sports with all the people there, but it helps you get something going for when you do get home as a civilian that you can do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Florida National Guardsman who spent 14 of his 18 years on active duty, has some prospects for his career when he medically retires. Right now, he is using his adaptive sports experience to compete for Team Army at the 2024 Department of Defense Warrior Games in Orlando this June. Baez is competing in, air rifle, wheelchair basketball, wheelchair rugby, and sitting volleyball.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019ve always been on \u2018Team Army,\u2019 after 18 years it\u2019s in my blood. Competing on Team Army at Warrior Games? What a way to represent!\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":108493,"menu_order":0,"template":"single-native-legacy","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":"15"},"advertiser":[3465],"class_list":["post-75597","native","type-native","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","advertiser-warrior-games"],"acf":{"subheadline":"By MaryTherese Griffin","legacy_arc_id":"JG2UET325NDBJDLQ5WZRVM2X5Y","arc_canonical_url":"\/native\/warrior-games\/2024\/05\/02\/adaptive-sports-take-your-mind-off-your-problems\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"native-no-bottom-ad","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"\n