Silver medalist
Delaware Wounded Warrior medals, prepares for games in Colorado
1 p.m., Sept. 24, 2014--Those practices with the University of Delaware women’s volleyball team earlier this year must have done the trick for Wounded Warrior Nick Dadgostar.
Not only did the Felton, Delaware, resident come back with two silver medals at the inaugural Invictus Games in London this month -- including one as a member of the USA seated volleyball team -- he’s about to try his luck again in the Warrior Games starting Sept. 28 in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
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Dadgostar, who is representing the Air Force, is one of only 10 U.S. service members chosen for the Invictus and Warrior Games, both of which feature Paralympic-style events. He will be competing in track and field, seated volleyball and swimming.
It’s a surreal experience for Dadgostar, whose right leg was amputated below the knee following an accident in 2009 while on active duty in the Air Force.
“I’m ecstatic to be part of this. Everybody told me at the time, all the doctors, they said, ‘Don’t expect anything,’” said Dadgostar, 32. “I can do everything I did before.”
Dadgostar and his fellow competitors represent an elite group -- athletes who have not only served their country, but have recovered from some pretty traumatic injuries and now are competing on a national and international level.
The Invictus Games featured more than 400 athletes from 14 countries, while the Warrior Games is expected to draw more than 200 wounded and injured service members from across the country representing the Army, Marine Corps, Navy/Coast Guard, Air Force and Special Operations.
Back in the spring, Dadgostar spent about a month practicing with the UD volleyball team after being connected via Yes U Can USA, a non-profit organization that works to provide adaptive recreation and sporting opportunities for people with mobility issues. Yes U Can USA is a designated Paralympic Sport Club, and one of its goals is to help people with physical challenges get involved with competitive sports.
“We’re just very thankful we have the resources available to help people who want to optimize their capabilities,” said Vickie George, co-founder and president of Yes U Can USA. “With Nick, you couldn’t have asked for a better representative. He does all the hard work with this and makes us look good.”
UD head coach Bonnie Kenny said the team quickly got comfortable with Dadgostar, especially once they saw his level of commitment to learning the game. He practiced with the team two or three times a week for about a month.
“It wasn’t ever easy for him, but he kept working,” Kenny said. “We gave him a ball at the beginning and joked he really wore it out by the end.”
For his part, Dadgostar said he was impressed by the team’s encouraging atmosphere.
“They took time out of their practice to help me, and it really did make a difference,” he said. “That was something they didn’t have to do.”
Hobnobbing with Prince Harry at the Invictus Games and working out at the U.S. Olympic Training Center weren’t even remotely on Dadgostar’s radar five years ago when he was injured while snorkeling in the Virgin Islands.
Dadgostar was serving in the Air Force when he was struck by the propeller of a commercial fishing boat. He lost 12 centimeters from his right tibia, although a doctor was able to save his left foot. After attempts to regrow bone on his right leg didn’t bring the results he had hoped for, he made the decision to have an amputation in 2011.
But he didn’t want a prosthesis to be his excuse for inactivity. Earlier this year, he decided to try out for the Warrior Games, which began in 2010 to introduce injured service members and veterans to Paralympic sport competition.
He wasn’t a runner, but he started training with Delaware State University track coach Kevin Braunskill, also a veteran himself. With Braunskill’s help, Dadgostar trimmed more than two seconds off his 100-meter sprint.
“With the running, I kept wanting to do it, but then it grew into a passion,” said Dadgostar, who has three prostheses he uses for running, depending on the length he’s covering on the track. “I really love it.”
It’s that kind of outlook that makes Dadgostar so easy to work with, said Braunskill, who texted with Dadgostar during the Invictus Games.
In addition to winning a silver medal with the seated volleyball team, Dadgostar also won second place in the 200 meters, competing against other athletes with single or double amputations below the knee. He placed fourth in the 100 meters.
“He was a bit disappointed with his 100 meters. I like that because he comes to practice with a drive to win, and the disappointment will drive him to continue to do his very best in practice,” said Braunskill, a retired Army officer.
“Here at Delaware State University, he's been an inspiration to all, especially our track and field student athletes. They see how determined he is to learn and be a student of the sport and they end up doing the same thing.”
Dadgostar left for the Warrior Games earlier this week. Long-term, he hopes to secure a spot on the U.S. Paralympic Team.
Until then, he hopes his training and success will continue to educate people about what people with limb loss can achieve.
“A lot of people stare when they see me. I think it’s still a taboo subject,” he said. “A lot of kids are very curious. I love it when they come up and ask. Sometimes, they say, ‘Hey, you inspire me’ or ‘You look really good out there.’ I welcome it and answer any questions that I can.”
George said Yes U Can USA aims to help Dadgostar reach whatever goals he sets for himself. “I’m just connecting the dots with the resources,” she said. “The rest, it’s all up to him. I don’t doubt that he’ll make it.”
Article by Kelly Bothum
Photos by Evan Krape and courtesy of Nick Dadgostar