Warrior Games 2013: Airman gets second chance at life

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Mareshah Haynes
  • Air Force News Service
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AFNS) --  You only live once, the saying goes. That may be true for most, but for one former jet engine mechanic that is not the case.

Former Senior Airman Darrell Fisher had been fascinated with aviation since he was a child growing up in Fayetteville, N.C.  After working in the civilian sector for a while after high school, he decided to join the Air Force to quell his curiosity about planes.

"I always wanted to know how does an airplane get off of the ground and stay in the air," Fisher said.

He served five years in the Air Force and then became a civilian aircraft mechanic at Warner-Robins Air Force Base, Ga.

"I loved doing what I was doing when I was in, and that was the closest thing to being a jet engine mechanic again was to be an aircraft mechanic, so that's what I chose to do." Fisher said. "When you see the airplanes flying and you know you put the engines in them to make them fly, that was a great (feeling)."

Fisher was doing what doing what he loved - working on airplanes by day and on motorcycles as a part time job at night, but in a matter of seconds those things would become the least of his concerns.

"I was in the wrong place at the wrong time," he said. "Someone was shooting and the bullet hit me under my armpit as I was getting in my car. I actually didn't know at first that I was shot. Everyone was looking around, and then I looked down and there was a small hole. I took about two steps and just collapsed."

During those critical moments, Fisher said his friends held him and waited until the ambulance arrived on scene. Emergency responders loaded him into the ambulance and began working on him, but it was too late.

"I actually died right there," he said. "The slideshow played in front of me, all the way from when I was a baby up until that moment. The things that I saw - it was not nice. It's like you're floating out of body and everything is dead. There is no color. There was nothing. I kept going to these buildings. There would be a table there and someone one with a black hood on. As soon as I would go to that table they would get up and walk away. Then another building I went into the walls were see through and they were like plastic. You could see body parts and faces of people trying to push through - screaming and hollering. I think that was hell.

"They turned the sirens off in the ambulance and pronounced me, pretty much, dead," he said. "When I got the hospital, a nurse found a faint pulse and that's when they all went into crazy mode."

At that moment, Fisher a self-proclaimed fighter, decided to change his life for the better and continue to fight.

The bullet that entered through Fisher's armpit ricocheted off of his internal organs as if he were a human pinball machine. His liver, spleen, lungs, and lower intestines were hit and the bullet remained lodged in his back. The damage to his spine caused T-7 paraplegia, which meant he would be beginning his second chance at life in a wheelchair.

Fisher was hospitalized in three different hospitals for a year and a half of his recovery. He fought through three different life-saving surgeries, although his doctors weren't optimistic about his condition.

"I wasn't supposed to live," he said. "I was on that part of the list where they were like, 'Hey, he's not going to make it.' They were telling my mom that. (But) I made it and here I am today."
Eventually, Fisher was released from the hospital and went to live with his mother and then a friend to continue healing. His physical condition began improving, but he said he didn't realize during the next five years he had slipped into a depressed state.

"I had a buddy of mine tell me, 'Hey, you need to get off your (butt) and get out here and do something,'" Fisher said. "I see guys out here all the time - in wheelchairs, by themselves - driving and going about their daily lives doing what they need to do. And you need to do it too.'"

That was just the kick in the behind he needed and he began to engage in activities he enjoyed before the shooting. He bought a car, learned to drive using hand controls and restarted his passion for cars and motorcycles. He had even decided to move from Atlanta back to his hometown in North Carolina. But before that, Fisher was introduced to some new passions in his life through a fortunate chance meeting.

"Before I moved, I had an annual appointment and that's where I met my fiancé," Fisher said. "She's paralyzed too and she's into sports, so that's how I got into sports."
Together, Fisher and his fiancé compete in as many adaptive sports programs as they can. His fiancé competed in the 2012 Paralympics in London and Fisher said they both hope to compete in the 2014 games.

"(Adaptive sports) have helped me to my 'new normal' and beyond because before I didn't play any sports," he said. "Being able to prove to yourself that you can do it is a big thing and letting others see that even though you have a disability, it can still be done."

Fisher and his 49 teammates will show the world just that during the 2013 Warrior Games in Colorado Springs.

"To be back with the Air Force on a team, it's awesome," he said. "It's just like being back in (the Air Force). Give me a uniform - let's go!"

With a second chance at life, Fisher is literally going for the gold. He's back to his old hobbies, excelling in his new ones and living as an example for other wounded warriors.

"I still don't know my purpose, but I know I'm here for a reason," he said. "(When I was dead) I didn't see a bright light. It was like a big nightmare for me. It just made me change a s a person all the way around. Whoever I can try to help or encourage, that's what I want to do, regardless of who you are or what you've gone through. It doesn't matter to me."