Bettering Those Around You (NQM015)
“I know the brothers that I lost would trade places with me in a heartbeat. So to me, it’s an injustice not to live my life to the fullest, not to inspire others. This is a testament that yeah, life’s a bitch. If life knocks you down, make sure you land on your back so you can look at it right in the face, get back up, and say, ‘What else you got, bitch?’” - Omar ‘Crispy’ Avila.
In May 2007, 11 months into his deployment, Sgt Omar Avila’s Humvee hit 200lbs of improvised explosives, lifting the multi-ton vehicle more than 7 feet into the air. Omar, stationed on the 50-caliber machine gun, rode the explosion never losing control of his weapon. With the vehicle ablaze, he continued to fire his 50-cal at insurgents on the rooftops around him, giving the rest of the convoy valuable cover fire to regroup. The blaze was so intense, it melted the barrel of his weapon and caused grenades and other rounds to cook off around him.
With the diesel feeding the flames and Avila already engulfed in them and taking enemy fire, the only means of escape from the wreckage was to jump off to the side. Breaking both femurs upon landing on the ground, he fired his M4 from his back before he started rolling to put out the flames. Ultimately being medevaced, he would wake up 3 months later in San Antonio after suffering burns to 75% of his body. A fellow veteran and old friend, true to military humor, described him as pretty crispy upon seeing him at the hospital. The name stuck and has been a valuable tool on the road to recovery.
The recovery was grueling. Austinfitmagazine wrote a great piece about Crispy and his recovery: “The weeks that followed were harrowing. Avila endured a grueling daily routine of skin graft treatments, requiring the injured skin be debrided so the new skin underneath could grow. Nurses would take him to the shower, peel off his bandages—an unimaginable pain itself—and begin scraping away his skin with what he says looked like a metal bristled grill brush. This went on for months. The pain was so excruciating he would pass out during each session for the first month and half.
Nine years and 102 surgeries later, Avila beat the odds, and is thriving as a motivational speaker, professional power lifter, and daily inspiration to thousands.”
Avila in the hospital after the ambush. Photo courtesy of Omar Avila
Crispy also serves as ambassador for Black Rifle Coffee Company, a great company owned and operated by Veterans. Their mission is to give back to the Veteran community, with a goal of hiring more than 10,000 former servicemen and women. They did a great 3-part documentary on Crispy which you can check out below. They also have a ton of other fantastic original content on their YouTube channel here.
Along with the release of the documentary, Maggie BenZvi wrote a great piece about Omar which can be found here. Avila’s never quit attitude is described as follows: “Avila rose. Despite his fresh injuries, he resumed shooting at insurgents with the .50 cal. until the barrel was so hot that it was melting. He jumped out of the vehicle, breaking both of his femurs, but he pulled out his M4 and continued shooting at rooftops while laying flat on his back. He did this until he ran out of ammunition.
After a friend finally dragged him to the lead vehicle in the convoy, Avila found that the driver was on his first day in-country and was screaming in fear. “I did what any NCO would do,” Avila said. “I grabbed him, slapped the shit out of him, and said, ‘Shut the fuck up, we’re getting out of this.’”
When a medic gave Avila some water, Avila poured it over his head, allowing all the chemicals from the IED to pour into his eyes, thus leaving him temporarily blind. He was forced to guide the brand-new driver back to the forward operating base (FOB) using landmarks he had memorized.”
Crispy ultimately set multiple Paralympic Games weight lifting records and uses his social media presence to help others in need. With nearly 200,000 followers on Instagram, he uses his voice for good, helping out other fellow Veterans and young children suffering through burn recoveries. He truly makes a difference.
Omar ‘Crispy’ Avila – US Army veteran amputee with burns to 75% of body – Record setting paralympic powerlifter – Powerful inspiration
Per usual, the Team Never Quit guys did an awesome podcast with Crispy. This will give you new-found perspective and appreciation for life, definitely worth a listen. A few excerpts below.
On finding peace and moving forward: “He couldn’t get out because his equipment was melting to the seat, and he was glued in. I remember he touched me and said get out, get out now. And I looked at him and said no man, I am done. To me it was always either you come home or you don’t, I didn’t understand the option of coming home (seriously) injured and living a somewhat normal life. To me dying in combat was going to be glory, going to be honorable. I had that sense of peace and comfort. I knew I was going to be OK. At that moment, right then and there, I was relieved and said this is it. Then I felt this inner light in me telling me to get up, not today.”
On taking care of your people: “We only had three medics as we were rolling in, and there were four of us wounded. I remember one of the medics trying to grab me. I pushed him away and closed the door telling him to take care of the others first, its three of you and four of us.”
On the suffering of recovery: “The 25% of my body that wasn’t burned had to be grafted. They take the first layer of your skin and they stretch it, to then put it on the rest of my body to cover it as a band-aid. Then you start running into the complications of infection and the graft not taking. So it had to be done a couple of different times. They then need to take you into a shower and scrape off the dead skin. Every time they did it, I was passed out from the pain. I would wake up in my room with new bandages a couple of hours later.”
Finding new drive: “I was going down the wrong path, hanging out with the wrong people. Drinking too much, I got fat, I had no real drive, no purpose. A buddy of mine owned a strength and conditioning gym, so one day I walked in, and they had powerlifting. I wanted to try it even though I had never done it before. I had to use straps since my hands were messed up, but first day I deadlifted 405 like it was nothing. Next day we were benching and I repped out 315. I had found a new drive.”
On finding a new mission: “Being burned and seeing young kids burned, helping them became a huge passion in my life. I lived a great life, I was able to play sports when I was young and had a great military career. I was wounded when I was 21. But these kids were burned at a young age. They are going to be bullied. So I took a big interest, I have a great voice in the community, people listen. Why not use that platform to not only help military men and women but also the kids. Lets help them. For example, this one kid had bad burn wounds all over his head and really liked hats. So I just put out a post asking for hats and next thing you know, a couple of days later, he has hundreds of hats.”
