Jody Mitic wanted to be a soldier ever since he was a young boy.
He joined the cadets, then as soon as he could, the regular army.
He was sent to Afghanistan, where he was part of an elite sniper team.
However, on his third tour, he stepped on a small anti-personnel mine, and lost both his feet and the lower part of his legs. But that never stopped him and his story has been one of inspiration ever since.
He wrote a book about his life, recovery, and philosophy called “Unflinching, the making of a Canadian sniper”
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Mitic’s story throughout is one of perseverance, from overcoming some unfortunate circumstances early in his career, to struggling through recovery from a double amputation of his legs below the knees.
An experienced soldier of twenty years, he was on his third tour in the hot, dry, desert like country.
Although well-versed in the Taliban’s ways and having also seen death of fellow soldiers, he had a premonition.
Afghanistan, 2007. I was a Master Corporal, part of an elite sniper team sent on a mission to flush out Taliban in an Afghan village.
I had just turned thirty, after three tours of duty overseas. I’d been shot at by mortars, eyed the enemy through my scope, survived through stealth and stamina.
I’d been training for war my entire adult life. But nothing prepared me for what happened next.
He was determined to come back from his wounds, and be of service to his country, but even as he overcame the physical injury, he had to mentally adapt to new reality, no matter how well he learned to walk, and run, his days as a front line soldier, the job he loved, were over
He fought drug dependence on pain killers, struggled to find his way in life outside the military, and to find a new life again outside the military, the only life he had known.
Not only did he learn to walk with prosthetic legs, he competed in a TV reality show- The Amazing Race- requiring strength, stamina and wit.
Many viewers with disabilities say they were inspired by his excellent showing.
Mitic married, has children and has now entered politics as a councillor for Canada’s capital city, Ottawa.
He says writing this book of memoirs was a tough and emotional experience, but hopes it inspires people.
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