DVIDS – News – “I thought I was on top of the world… until I wasn’t. But now I’m back.”

FALLS CHURCH, Va. – One look at retired Army Capt. Juan Torres Valenzuela and you’d think he doesn’t have a care in the world. He is a man with physical strength, a great personality, a happy attitude, and a plan. “I thought I was on top of the world… until I wasn’t. But now I’m back!” The 29-year-old served as a medic in the Army and eventually commissioned as an infantry officer. He said he was planning to become an ROTC instructor at Florida State University. One day, everything went up in smoke at the old Fort Bragg, now Fort Liberty, where he was stationed.

“Four years ago, I was talking to my roommate and passed out. After going to the hospital and having a series of tests done, the doctor told me I had a tumor in my head. Three weeks later, I passed out. , I’m coming to Duke University to have a tumor removed. A few weeks later, a biopsy revealed it was cancer, so I had to start treatment. I started treatment at Ft. Liberty underwent three cycles of chemotherapy and 33 radiation treatments.

Members of the 82nd Airborne began their journey to recovery in the FT Liberty Soldier Recovery Unit (SRU). “I was happy to be cared for. I was still in shock about what had happened to me and how I had discovered a major, life-changing condition.”

At the time, the prognosis was bleak, so he sought multiple opinions. He said they were formed from past data from others who had his condition. Torres Valenzuela refused to accept it. Then he returned home.
“Once I found out I was medically retiring, I compassionately asked to be reassigned to my hometown of San Antonio. My entire family is here.” In March 2021, he moved to San Antonio. Continued recovery at Antonio’s SRU. His treatment was rough and very tiring, he says, but he knew he had to bounce back.

One of the best things that could have happened to him was adaptive sports. “Honestly, amidst all the bad and negative things that have happened, adaptive sports have been a shining light. I have been in touch with some PTs and OTs and have seen many of the things that adaptive sports like Warrior Games have taken me to. I would rather spend my time in a productive way like this. Moreover, it also helped me cope with what I was going through. ”

Torres Valenzuela found many ways to cope by simply saying yes to adaptive sports, all of which he says surprised him.
“When I joined the Army Trials and the Warrior Games, it became one big family.” He initially enrolled in only three sports: powerlifting, archery, and rowing. “They asked me if I was allowed to participate in other events, and I said yes. The next thing I know, I’m practicing shot put. Coach Adrian Wilson is coaching me. Thank you.”

Veteran members of Team Army and Team US have also contributed to his recovery, for which he is most grateful.
“Thanks to the rowing techniques I learned from veteran team member Ross Alewine, I was able to shave a minute off my rowing time. Even after that, we’re still friends and talk all the time. I didn’t know him at all until two years ago.”

After hard work, Juan Torres Valenzuela is one of two Team Army Ultimate Champion representatives at the 2022 Warrior Games in Orlando. Although he hopes to return to Team Army, he is happy that a new chapter in his life has begun now that he has retired. “I’ve been training at the fire academy for three months and won’t graduate until this summer. I want to go back to the Warrior Games and eventually go to Invictus. I’m good now. I’m more focused on mind, body and soul. I get tested every six months instead of every three months.”

Although the world is different from what he envisioned five years ago, he says he has no regrets and is grateful the Army took care of him and helped get him back on top of the world. he said. “This program, SRU and Adaptive Sports have helped me a lot in every way. The motivation and emotional support that SRU has given me has been amazing. If anyone needs this program in the future, I will says: Take every opportunity to build relationships. You will have these for the rest of your life, and people will continue to help you. Take everything positively. ”