In Potomac, Maryland, Saturday, a wounded warrior with a 12-year-old navigator will continue a journey that has rehabilitated his mind and spirit.
Wounded veteran Omar Duran and 12-year-old Colton Bailey are training together for the first-ever Warrior Ride, which raises money for veterans.
After suffering brain and spinal cord injuries in Afghanistan in 2010, he spent almost three years rehabbing and met Colton, who was volunteering with his dad at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.
“At that time, I couldn’t find an outlet,” Duran said. “I was actually on the verge of suicide internally, honestly, and I tell everybody I was days from it.”
Hand-cycling was something he could do.
With the scenery and people, 60 miles just flies by some days, he said.
“I could smell fresh air; it wasn’t hospital air,” Duran said. “I was getting happier. My madness was going away.”
He lives in Florida, now, but Colton -- a most incredible seventh-grader -- has been here helping his dad plan the ride and raising $3,300 through a bake sale.
“I applaud him for that,” Duran said. “It takes a lot for a kid to do that.”
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“Wounded warriors isn’t something you run across every day,” Colton said. “Some people have trouble getting out of bed every morning, and I think we should help them live life to the fullest.”
“It’s amazing,” Duran said. “He’s taking his time out. Most kids, their free time is all about play and cellphones and electronics, and he spends his time baking cookies and selling them.”
Duran dreams of competing in the 2020 Paralympics in Tokyo, and he just raced the Detroit and New York marathons, but the Warrior Ride is one he doesn't want to win.
“I promised that I’d try to at least say hi to every person that went on that ride, so that’s what I'm going to do – start at front and say hi all the way to the back and say thank you.”
The 20K ride starts at 9 a.m. Saturday at 12505 Park Potomac Ave. On-site registration closes at 8:15 a.m.
