Kirstie Ennis: Going “Full Throttle”
By Brady Rhoades
Veteran Kirstie Ennis is one of the best Paralympian snowboarders in the world, and she’s also eying the seven great summits, recently climbing 19,341-foot Mt. Kilimanjaro in Africa and 16,024-foot Carstensz Pyramid in Indonesia. On one leg.
As a Marine Corps sergeant. in Afghanistan—a helicopter door gunner—she wrecked a leg when the helicopter she was in crashed. That leg was amputated above the knee in 2015.
Her jaw was destroyed, she lost teeth, she injured discs in her spine, and she suffered facial lacerations, traumatic brain injury, and PTSD.
In the process of undergoing more than 40 surgeries, she came to a realization, acquiring a come-to-terms toughness and wisdom that would help motivate her to train as a snowboarder for the 2018 Winter Paralympic Games in Pyeongchang County, in the Gangwon region of South Korea.
And to attempt to conquer the tallest peaks on all seven continents.
Countless times a day, she repeats one of her mantras: Stop worrying about what you lost. Look at what you’ve got. Or: What counts is what’s behind your rib cage and six inches between your ears.
She’s only 26, but her near-death experience offered an invaluable lesson on how precious time is.
“I go full throttle,” she said. “I come up with obnoxious goals and I go after them.”
It’s hard to believe that this fifth-gear athlete chasing Paralympian goals—and literally ascending historic heights for an above-the-knee-amputee mountain climber—spent months in hospital beds, nearly lifeless, filled with doubt, enveloped in depression. She wondered how she’d ever get around, go on. What would she do? Would she ever wear a dress again? Would anyone ever be attracted to her?
Idle time can be a wounded warrior’s worst enemy. Fathers can be their best friends.
“Dad said, ‘People in the Middle East couldn’t kill you, and now you’re going to collapse?'” she recalls. “The light went on and I said, ‘I made it home. Nobody owes me a damn thing.'”
Ennis had to mine for the toughness that is at her core, but her sense of humor? That comes effortlessly.
The same year her leg was amputated, she participated in the Walking with the Wounded event, in which wounded warriors trek 1,000 miles, ending at Buckingham Palace in London. Ennis left dozens of dog tags bearing the names of fallen comrades along the way. She also met Prince Harry, a veteran of the war in Afghanistan.
Prince Harry, not one to shirk his duties, logged many miles during the event. At one point, he turned to Ennis and complained that his knee ached.
“I looked over and was like, ‘That’s (expletive) cute, really,’” Ennis said. Prince Harry cracked up.
Ennis and Prince Harry became fast friends. At the conclusion of her walk, she presented the final dog tag to him.
Their embrace was photographed and zoomed across the wires, making her a celebrity in a matter of minutes.
For her service to the country, Ennis has earned the NATO Medal, Combat Action Wings with three gold stars, National Defense Medal, Global War on Terrorism Medal, Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal, Air Medal, Good Conduct Medal, Afghanistan National Campaign Medal, two Letters of Appreciation, Certificate of Commendation, and a Certificate of Appreciation.
But who says you can’t be uber-tough and sexy?
ESPN called, asking her to grace the cover of ESPN The Magazine‘s 2017 Body Issue, with rather risqué photos of her on the inside pages. They wanted her to climb Joshua Tree, sans clothes.
She had her doubts. But Ennis tends to run toward challenges, toward fear.
“I thought about it and considered the demographic and the people 
Ennis appeared in the Body Issue, along with other great athletes, such as Javier Baez (baseball), A.J. Andrews (softball), and Malakai Fekitoa (rugby).
The daughter of two Marines, Ennis enlisted out of Florida when she was 17 years old, in 2008. She served for four years as a helicopter door gunner and airframes mechanic when disaster struck on June 23, 2012.
While on her second deployment in Afghanistan, Ennis’ CH-53D helicopter crashed in the Helmand Province.
Badly injured, she fought to remain on active duty but was medically retired in 2014. After her below-the-knee amputation on November 23, 2015, Ennis contracted the antibiotic-resistant MRSA and, because of a resulting infection, doctors were forced to remove her knee a month later.
“A below-the-knee amputation is night-and-day from above-the-knee,” she said. “You have to relearn everything. You’re basically a toddler.”
When she was told that surgeons would have to perform above-the-knee surgery, she said she “lost it.” She cried. She wailed.
“It’s one curveball after another,” she said.
She still struggles, emotionally. “I’d be lying if I said it’s easy,” she said.
Two years after her life-altering surgery, she’s adapted, and she’s developed coping skills, which is a critical component of recovery.
Focus on what you have, not on what you don’t.
Set lofty goals.
Stay busy.
And true to her military training, be of service to others.
“When I’m having a bad day, I help someone who’s missing three limbs,” she said. “There’s this common misconception about what strength is. In the grand scheme of things, we’re in this together. You have to realize that you have to turn to somebody.”
Some of her best days involving helping other wounded warriors—whether it be through her notoriety as a star Paralympian or simply visiting a hospital.
“I know I’m on a platform,” she said. “I want to inspire people to reach their potential.”
She recalls a wounded warrior uttering eight words that she’ll never forget and that make her journey—as harrowing as it has been—worth it.
“You inspired me to walk another 10 steps,” the woman said.
