TRAVIS WOOD

Cedar City, UT

Mission Accomplished on Nov. 13, 2009

Travis Wood was working at a restaurant when he watched the second plane hit the Twin Towers during the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001. He wanted to join the military at that moment and started the process to enlist the following day. He joined the Army as a wheeled vehicle mechanic and recovery specialist deploying stateside during Hurricane Katrina in 2005, with additional tours to Iraq and Afghanistan. 

 

On Jan. 15, 2007, Sergeant Wood, while serving with the 3rd Brigade, 10th Mountain Division, sustained multiple severe injuries during his second combat deployment when a roadside bomb detonated near the truck he was driving in Southern Afghanistan. He had to be cut out of his harness and pulled out of the vehicle, sustaining injuries including severe damage to his right leg, a broken back, crushed pelvis, and a punctured lung. Travis has had to endure 83 surgeries to repair his injuries. After years of attempted limb salvage, doctors amputated Travis’ right leg above the knee. 

 

Homes For Our Troops completed Travis’ home on Nov. 13, 2009. Since then, he has finished his degrees in biology and chemistry and is now a teacher. An avid hand cyclist, he has completed several races, including the Boston Marathon, New York Marathon, and Chicago Marathon.

 

The comfort and stability of a specially adapted custom Homes For Our Troops home have served as the ideal environment for Travis to pursue his education and raise his children with his wife, Stephanie. Before receiving his HFOT home, Travis had a hard time navigating the stairs and often became frustrated that he could not do many things independently. Regaining independence within his HFOT home gave him the motivation to continue his education. “While I was going to school, it was nice to go home to a place of solitude and safety where I did not have to worry about anything else but my education,” he says.