{"id":45010,"date":"2018-07-30T17:22:59","date_gmt":"2018-07-30T17:22:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/07\/30\/from-marine-to-role-model\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T20:38:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T20:38:09","slug":"from-marine-to-role-model","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/off-duty\/2018\/07\/30\/from-marine-to-role-model\/","title":{"rendered":"From Marine to (role) model: Wounded warrior strikes a pose to benefit fellow veterans"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure class=\"wp-block-smg-jwplayer-video\"><atype-video-jwplayer nostick=\"true\" playlisturl=\"https:\/\/cdn.jwplayer.com\/v2\/playlists\/fCzRqMW8?tags=0d2f1b47-1812-432c-9cda-256f4c937162\" poster=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/video-poster-0d2f1b47-1812-432c-9cda-256f4c937162.jpg\" aspectratio=\"16 \/ 9\" mute autostart=\"false\"><\/atype-video-jwplayer><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Kirstie Ennis said she suffered low self-esteem after she was was injured in a helicopter crash and later had her leg amputated. But things have turned around.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It was June 2012 when the<a href=\"https:\/\/www.marinecorpstimes.com\/news\/your-marine-corps\/2018\/06\/08\/the-corps-is-spending-money-to-save-money-on-the-ch-53-king-stallion\/\" target=\"_blank\"> CH-53D helicopter<\/a> that Marine door gunner and airframes \u00admechanic<a href=\"https:\/\/www.marinecorpstimes.com\/news\/your-marine-corps\/2018\/07\/30\/marine-vet-facing-amputation-completes-trek-across-britain\/\"> Sgt. Kirstie Ennis <\/a>was flying in went down in \u00adAfghanistan\u2019s Helmand province.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The 21-year-old was on her second Afghanistan deployment. She suffered severe trauma, especially to her brain, spine, neck, shoulder, face and left leg, which after some 40 surgeries was amputated below the knee three years later. A month after that, it was amputated above the knee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe first thing I thought about wasn\u2019t \u2018Am I going to be able to run again?\u2019 It was, \u2018Can I wear a dress?\u2019\u201d Ennis told Military Times. \u201cAm I going to be able to wear heels? Are people going to look at me \u00addifferently? Am I still going to be attractive?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt was really the self-esteem stuff that got to me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It wasn\u2019t until a calendar photo shoot in 2018, six years after that accident, that she put on high heels again for the first time, a tear-filled event she describes as highly emotional and special.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWhen I was 21 and first got hurt over in Afghanistan, I didn\u2019t have that role model, that injured woman role model in my life,\u201d Ennis said. \u201cI was hoping that other injured women veterans or other amputees or whoever would see it would still want to embrace what it means to be feminine.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The shoot was for the 13th Pin-Ups For Vets \u00adcalendar. Ennis was the first amputee to pose for the publication, which was founded in 2006 by Gina Elise as a way to honor her grandfather\u2019s World War II service.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/off-duty\/2017\/04\/04\/in-her-own-words-how-a-marine-veteran-amputee-conquered-mount-kilimanjaro-for-charity\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/kirstie-ennis-01.jpeg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">In her own words: How a Marine veteran amputee conquered Mount Kilimanjaro for charity<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Retired Marine Sgt. Kirstie Ennis on scaling Africa&#039;s tallest mountain, and the needs of those nearby.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Proceeds of the calendar go to veterans\u2019 \u00adhospitals, which includes some of the facilities at which Ennis has been (and is being) treated, she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt\u2019s really about paying it forward and hoping to be a role model for somebody else.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That doesn\u2019t mean she doesn\u2019t sometimes struggle with self-confidence, despite nearly 87,000 Instagram followers and after becoming the first veteran to grace not only the pages but the cover of ESPN the Magazine\u2019s revealing \u201cBody Issue,\u201d wearing nothing more than a prosthetic leg and rock-climbing shoes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><b>A FAMILY AFFAIR<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ennis is what she calls \u201cone of the lucky ones\u201d \u2014 in other words, she\u2019s the daughter of two Marines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One of her earliest memories involves going to her \u00admother\u2019s boot camp graduation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cMy Barbie dolls didn\u2019t wear ballgowns, they wore dress blues,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ennis graduated high school early, got a community college degree and joined the Marine Corps at age 17. She says she joined to serve people and \u201cprotect those who can\u2019t protect themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Twenty years was the goal. After her accident, she had to find a way to continue service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Though she hasn\u2019t always been an athlete, she\u2019s always been fiercely competitive. Ennis turned to \u00adextreme sports to raise money for vulnerable individuals, and to inspire others to live up to their potential.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI like to think that this is my way of still taking care of people,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It was in her hospital bed in San Diego that she first considered a snowboarding career. Originally from Florida, she didn\u2019t know anything about snow or the mountains. But snowboarding and now mountaineering are sports that remind of all she can do, she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt\u2019s one of those sports that no one is going to do it for you; it\u2019s on you.\u201d she said. \u201cI need that reminder of my independence and how hard I fought to stay out of a wheelchair.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ennis had never snowboarded before her accident. She competed for three years, earning a USA Snowboard and Freeski Association national title.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Her goals aren\u2019t limited to adaptive sports \u2014 \u201cI want to compete in the X Games\u201d \u2014 and she\u2019s partnering with Burton Snowboards to create a program to take adaptive athletes on skiing and snowboarding trips into the backcountry.<\/p>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-smg-jwplayer-video\"><atype-video-jwplayer nostick=\"true\" playlisturl=\"https:\/\/cdn.jwplayer.com\/v2\/playlists\/fCzRqMW8?tags=e808d0e0-6f9a-4b32-8c3a-fa657a148083\" poster=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/video-poster-e808d0e0-6f9a-4b32-8c3a-fa657a148083.jpg\" aspectratio=\"16 \/ 9\" mute autostart=\"false\"><\/atype-video-jwplayer><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Pin-Ups For Vets, a nonprofit that raises funds to support veterans, has released its 13th annual calendar for 2019.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><b>TOP OF THE WORLD<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">She\u2019s taking her passion for \u00admountaineering to new heights, \u00adclimbing the \u201cSeven Summits\u201d \u2014 the highest peak on each continent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In 2016 she climbed the \u00adCarstensz Pyramid in Indonesia. Then, in 2017, she became the first female \u00adabove-the-knee amputee to summit Mount Kilimanjaro, where she left the dog tags of Lance Cpl. \u00adMatthew \u00adRodriguez, who was killed in \u00adAfghanistan in 2013.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This year, she was in Alaska the whole month of June, attempting to climb Denali (formerly Mount McKinley). Her team was pinned at 14,000 feet for 17 days, Ennis said, and \u201cran out of food and supplies and were basically waiting for other teams to turn around.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Her team eventually would turn around at 18,200 feet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI\u2019m choosing to look at it as I\u2019m one of the lucky ones that gets to go back,\u201d Ennis said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Each climb teaches her something different, she said. And each raises money for a different nonprofit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In September she goes to Russia to climb Mount Elbrus, the highest point in Europe. In December it\u2019s off to Antarctica to climb Mount Vinson, with a stop on the way home to climb Argentina\u2019s Aconcagua, the highest peak in South America. Plans call for tackling Mount Everest in 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And she\u2019s hungry to go back to \u00adDenali, the \u201cbeast of a mountain\u201d and the one she was the most scared of. Round 2 in Alaska is set for 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It\u2019s not all about the climbs: She\u2019s recently established a nonprofit and sits on several boards, including that of Merging Vets and Players, which pairs combat veterans with pro athletes. And she builds her own prosthetic feet for climbing \u2014 a skill she is eager to share when other amputees ask for a customized mountaineering foot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThere was nothing for it,\u201d she said. \u201cThe reality is on my prosthetic side, I don\u2019t have to worry about keeping my foot warm, I don\u2019t have to worry about keeping it dry. There\u2019s no point in me wearing a boot and then trying to throw a crampon [specially designed climbing spikes] on that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">She just made a climbing foot for retired Army Staff Sgt. Earl Granville, an amputee who made headlines by \u00adcompleting the 2017 Boston Marathon by carrying his guide and an American flag across the finish line. Granville lost part of his leg in Afghanistan in 2008; he\u2019ll use an \u00adEnnis-crafted prosthetic to tackle Washington\u2019s Mount Rainier, Ennis said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">She hopes to patent her prosthetics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI really want to mass-produce them and just give them to kids,\u201d she said. \u201cThere\u2019s not a lot of resources for amputee kids to get out and get on the mountain.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Not enough? She just earned her third master\u2019s degree and is toying with pursuing a doctorate. And she wants to be the first amputee to swim the English Channel and to snowboard Mount Vinson and Everest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There are still times she looks in the mirror and says she\u2019s surprised that her left leg isn\u2019t there. But it\u2019s all about having the courage to explore, and the confidence to try anything with, or without, her leg \u2014 like wear high heels and pose for a calendar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt\u2019s emotional to look at yourself and still see the same person that you were, even though there\u2019s something different,\u201d she said. \u201cPeople like to see other people embracing their differences. Hopefully this encourages other people to embrace it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Learn more about the Pin-Ups For Vets calendar, and buy your copy, at <a href=\"http:\/\/pinupsforvets.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">pinupsforvets.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It wasn&#8217;t until six years after the accident that caused her to lose her left leg that Marine veteran Kirstie Ennis put on high heels for the first time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":50907,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":16,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[91,15,16,88],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3424],"class_list":["post-45010","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-military-culture","category-news","category-off-duty","category-your-military"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"CP4YZSGMABDXZLBLPRZNGC3S6E","arc_canonical_url":"\/off-duty\/2018\/07\/30\/from-marine-to-role-model\/","remove_feature_photo":true,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"remove-feature-photo","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented 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