DWTS Galloway

From Yahoo:
"Noah Galloway Discusses 'Dancing With The Stars' Obstacles"

 

Noah Galloway is a military veteran, but come March 16, he'll be a ballroom rookie. During his deployment as a member of the United States Army, the Humvee Noah was traveling in with two other soldiers hit a tripwire that "detonated a roadside bomb," he told Access Hollywood 's Shaun Robinson during a "Dancing with the Stars" rehearsal with pro partner Sharna Burgess. "I was on my second tour in Iraq and was injured around Christmas in 2005 and woke up in the hospital, lost two of my limbs, had several other injuries and I went through a long struggle for the first couple of years and then decided to get back in shape and be a better father and just a better person and started doing races and things like that," Noah – who served in the same 101st Airborne Division as Season 13 "Dancing with the Stars" champ J.R. Martinez – explained. The father of three – who also has a girlfriend – took the brunt of the blast and lost his left arm above the elbow, his left leg above the knee, suffered severe injuries to his other leg and had his jaw wired shut as a result. He told Shaun he has no recollection of the explosion and didn't find out about his injuries until his mother informed him nearly a week later when awoke in the hospital. "When it happened, I woke up six days later and was in a hospital and it was all news to me from my mom what had happened," he said. Noah said he went through a dark period, but eventually whipped himself back into shape and became more active in his children's lives, even landing on the cover of Men's Health magazine. "I decided I had to quit concentrating on what I lost and concentrate on what I had left, you know and then I was a father of three and I wasn't being a father they needed, I knew I needed to make a change," he said. Paralympian Amy Purdy nearly went the distance – finishing second to Meryl Davis – last year on "DWTS." She also competed with a prosthetic limb, but Noah explained the differences between their conditions. "The difference in our injuries, other than I'm missing an arm, [is] she was [missing her leg] below the knee," he told Shaun. "So, I'm dealing with something a lot more challenging because I can't control the knee and my prosthetic leg." His pro partner, Sharna, explained some of the modifications she's made in their routines to accommodate Noah's unique circumstances. "How can I push myself to be creative in a different way and give him the most amazing experience ever for "Dancing with the Stars?" she said. "It's actually been awesome working with Noah and finding different ways of doing things." Sharna said she's already noticed Noah's progress in the couple of weeks' worth of rehearsals they have under their belt so far. "We've discovered a lot of things Noah can do and in the last week to two weeks I guess. He's really even started to trust himself more. So he's doing things that he didn’t think he could do," she said. "Just the way that he can move on his left leg and pivot on it. We're discovering the more that he trusts himself and his body and that he'll be okay; the more we can do. And it's a lot of fun and obviously if anyone [has] seen our Instagram posts, the incredible strength in this man right here… He's like my jungle gym now." However, the dancer said she has had to take a new approach to some dance styles in order for Noah to be able to perform them with his prosthetic leg. "There are certain things we can't do. For example, there's rise and fall in some routines. We can't get that. So we're going to go for something called sway," she admitted. "I’m going to find ways of creating the illusion of things and different types of technique and different elements of the dance to really perfect, so we're still giving Noah the essence of what the dance is, but making fit him." Although Noah doesn't usually wear a prosthetic arm, he revealed that he will "have an arm for certain dances" to help keep proper frame. He also explained his added incentive to excel in the competition. "I want to do well because so many of these veterans [organizations] have been so supportive," he said. eason 20 of "Dancing with the Stars" premieres Monday at 8/7c on ABC.

 

^ I watched him on the show (I don't usually watch it) and he did well. It's always a good thing when someone shows that you can overcome challenges and does so in a fun way. The fact that he is also a veteran is even better as people need to remember just what the men and women on the military have been sacrificing. To many it seems the wars are over and yet there are still in Afghanistan and Iraq (and around the world) keeping us safe. Hopefully, he goes far in the show. ^

http://news.yahoo.com/noah-galloway-discusses-dancing-stars-obstacles-234001002.html;_ylt=AwrSyCR2qgdVpF0AneXQtDMD