Friday, April 25, 2008

Veteran to play in Heroes Cup April 26


The New York Times profiled lacrosse player and disabled veteran John Fernandez April 23. Fernandez lost both of his lower legs in a bomb attack while serving in Iraq in 2003. The West Point graduate, who captained the lacrosse team there, will join other Army alumni to play Navy alumni in the Heroes Cup at Madison Square Garden April 26.

Although he says, “it’s hard to turn without ankles,” he has returned to most of his athletic activities with his prosthetic legs. “I do everything I used to do. I ski, I hunt, I fish, I snowboard.”

Some of the proceeds from the Heroes Cup will go to the Wounded Warrior Project, an association of injured Iraq and Afghanistan veterans. Fernandez serves as its alumni director.