Annika Hutsler knew immediately.
“The moment that I talked to the Marine Corps recruiter for the first time, I just felt like this is where I belonged,” Hustler said.
Hutsler graduated from college on a Friday and left for bootcamp three days later. Early into bootcamp, she decided that military service would be her career.
Then, the pain in her right foot began.
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She said the Marines have a saying that “pain is weakness leaving the body.” She completed bootcamp and combat training.
It would take several months to identify the cause of her pain: Hutsler had a large and rapidly growing tumor.
“We tried everything to try to save my foot, to try and remove the tumors, try to shrink the tumor,” she said.
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Nothing was helping. “It was actually making it worse,” she recalled.
Hutsler remembers her doctor said they could continue doing surgeries for five to 10 years before they would have to amputate.
So, Hutsler made a decision that she has never regretted.
“I said, ‘Cut it off now.’”
Hutsler had an elective amputation of her right leg below the knee. “It was the best day of my life,” she said. For the first time, she felt she had hope.
Eight weekends after her surgery, Hutsler, who had grown up a dancer, found herself competing in the 2019 Department of Defense Warrior Games.
“It was the first time that things were going to get better because I had these role models that showed me that this is what's possible,” she recalled.
Hutsler has embraced, and embraced, and embraced adaptive sport.
Her Instagram page is loaded with videos of her skiing, rock climbing, wake surfing, running, skateboarding, playing wheelchair volleyball, sitting volleyball, and an impressive bit of archery.
While the physical activity makes her happy, Hutsler says the mental impact is “life changing.”
She is eager to share her enthusiasm and her experiences at her second Courage Weekend.
Courage Weekend is “essentially a celebration of sport and community focused on the veteran and active duty and first responder community,” said Clayton Frech, founder and CEO of Angel City Sports.
Courage Weekend happens Oct. 14 and 15 at Harvard Westlake. Ten adaptive sports including swimming, gold, sitting volleyball, wheelchair basketball, wheelchair football, and wheelchair pickleball will be available for novice and experienced athletes.
Frech says the “signature” of Angel City Sports is to engage and inspire new athletes. Throughout the year, they have events where athletes of all levels can compete, learn or just have fun.
But Frech also sees this event as a chance for the public to engage in an unfamiliar, and maybe even uncomfortable, space. He believes it is an opportunity for people to engage, witness and maybe even get more comfortable with people with disabilities – in the very familiar space of sport.
“I can't think of anything better than sport,” said Frech, whose son Ezra is a Paralympian.
“It's hard to get comfortable in this space. You got to show up. You got to meet athletes. You got to meet people. But sport is such a fun way to do it,” he said.
Navy combat veteran and Purple Heart recipient Mas Rohn is a Courage Weekend competitor and a mentor.
He said it is a “huge struggle to try to find the bright spot as you're going through recovery.
The only thing that knocked me out of it was getting active and finding a purpose.”
When asked what his purpose is, Rohn did not hesitate.
“My purpose is to help anybody else that was in my situation.”
In 2009, Rohn, a Navy corpsman, was deployed to Iraq.
“The day that I got hurt, we were in Fallujah. Somebody found an IED in the road, a different convoy. So, we decided to reroute through the city. This was all part of an ambush, and we didn't know it until we were in the middle of it.”
“And then they were shooting at us from the rooftops,” he continued.
When he regained consciousness, Rohn’s first instinct was to “do my job, make sure everybody was alright.”
Then he looked down at his own legs and realized he was “not all right.”
Fourteen years later, Rohn say the pain is still there: “I have a bunch of shrapnel still left in my leg, about 50 pieces in both legs.”
Rohn would have multiple surgeries. At one point, he had an infection that prompted another surgery. He said doctors discovered a “medical clamp that was left in my leg.”
After that, his leg “was pretty much toast.”
About a year-and-a-half later, Rohn decided to amputate.
He said because of the amputation, he got the function of a leg back.
“I would argue I have more function because I have the opportunity to do a bunch of things that I would have never had the opportunity to do,” Rohn said.
Like Hutsler, Rohn has competed in Warrior Games, Invictus Games and Courage Weekends.
“I just think that everybody should come out because sports really did save my life,” Hutlser said.
With a big smile, Rohn said he will throw discus this Courage Weekend.
“It's my favorite sport because it's so technical and it's beautiful when it all comes together.”
Both Rohn and Hutsler are training in hopes of qualifying for their first Paralympics. But they are clear that Courage Weekend embraces athletes of all levels.
“If you're a veteran who's never done adaptive sports, you should come out, see what it's all about” Rohn said. “If you're a veteran that's still competing, you should help try to build this Courage weekend into something that will be great for everyone to attend. And then if you're a high-level guy, you should come out and try to beat everybody.”
To find out how to compete at, volunteer or attend Courage Weekend, click here.
