Wounded Warriors

I have a few websites I check everyday to give me a brief glimpse of what is going on in the world. Most of my time is spent surfing ESPN.com and SI.com to keep me updated on the world of sports. Every once in a while, I run into stories like this that don’t really have much to do with sports, though. The stories are really touching and I am glad ESPN chooses to run them, however. Please take a little bit of time to read the story and then come back to finish reading my post; if you’d be so kind.

Ah, you’re back. Here’s a tissue to wipe that tear from your eye.

Obviously, the story itself is very touching. Man dedicates his life to something he is passionate about even though the pay isn’t great. His passion pays him back by giving him a wife and subsequently 3 children (talk about awesome fringe benefits!). Then, one day his passion causes him permanent disfigurement and almost takes his life. Instead of becoming angry at the world, angry at God, or angry at whatever he felt he should be angry at, his passion acts as a conduit for people to reach out to him and help him. I would not be surprised to see this story as the subject of a Disney movie someday.

The story doesn’t stop there, though. The man has decided to pay forward the good will he has received. “He plans to take an active role in Wounded Warriors, an organization that supports the families of injured or deceased soldiers.” He chose a very worthy organization to dedicate his time to. Too often our soldiers risk their lives so that we don’t have to, and very rarely do any of us reach out and thank them. Rai Henniger is going one step past that and working with an organization that helps soldiers and their families cope with problems similar to what he is going through.

Thinking about it some more, I doubt Disney will buy the rights to this story, because the audience would find it too unbelievable, even for Disney’s standards.