Former US Marine and amputee brings the heat as rising underwear and fitness model

From The NY Daily News:

Who needs two legs when you look this good?

Commanding his shot while standing in just a pair of blue and red briefs, this chiseled and tattooed Afghan War veteran could easily make you forget what’s missing from his photos.

But Alex Minsky, a 24-year-old former Marine who’s now kind of a David Beckham of underwear models, stands with the help of a prosthetic leg rising up to his right knee after losing it to an explosion in 2009.

In just nine months after fame discovered him working out in a Southern California gym, Minsky has made a growing name for himself as not only a fashion model but a devout role model for healthy living.

"I didn't set out to be an underwear model; I just like taking care of myself and working out. It just so happens that I look good in underwear," he honestly says.

Two years after joining the Marines and shipping off to Afghanistan, the San Diego man, then 21, drove over an improvised explosive device, which sent him in a coma.

When he finally woke, his right leg was gone, which marked the beginning of a long and excruciating road toward his recovery.

As he reflects, he admits, it certainly wasn't easy, and he soon fell to drinking as a way to help him cope.

"I was just living numb," he said. "Just running away from all those problems in life and thinking that a drink would fix everything. Now I know that that's not [the case]."

With his family's support, he says, he mustered up the strength to make the necessary changes in his life. He stopped drinking and focused on his physical fitness, health and mental attitude.

Two days after going sober, he was discovered, launching a rising modeling career he's yet to fully grasp.

"I just want people from nearby or far away — I want them to be inspired to try harder," he said of his ongoing improvement efforts, which he regularly updates his friends, family and fans about on one of his Facebook pages.

Among some of the more personal and touching photos he shares on his page are the ones that capture his earliest trials, such as physical therapy, learning how to walk again, and lying in a coma.

"Even bad days must come to an end eventually. All we can do is make each individual day the best we can make it," he said in one Facebook post in late May.

In another update, he posted a picture that reads, "Always remember that your present situation is not your final destination. The best is yet to come.”

On his appeal, he said,"I'm not self-destructing anymore, and that's one of the things people get inspired by. I'm in shape, and I work out. And I don't give up ... but they also, most of the time, they're inspired by the fact that I'm normal. And I'm just a normal guy , and I don't give up."

On Tuesday afternoon, he was caught by The Daily News shuffling between at least two TV interviews.

He's busy, but also focused on giving back where he can to those who have helped him, as well as to those who need their own help now.

"I'm donating heavily to the Wounded Warrior Project because they helped me. They helped me a lot along the way, and they helped my family," he said of the service group that generously aids injured service members like him.

"It's all about progress," he positively pushes. As for him: "I just want to be happy and healthy … that's really all I want to do."