Staff Sgt. Jose Luis Sanchez was two weeks away from finishing a tour in Afghanistan in 2011 when he stepped on an IED.
"They picked me up and my leg slid off," Sanchez told Runner's World. "They were able to save my other leg, and through hard work and determination we are here."
Sanchez lost the lower part of his left leg, but doctors saved his right leg.
"When I was recovering, I couldn’t stand up for three seconds or walk for more than two feet," Sanchez said in Runner's World. "I fought for four or five years to be able to walk and lift my body. Then I wanted to push it further by doing a marathon."
This was Sanchez’s third marathon. He ran his first, the Marine Corps Marathon, in 2015 and went on to run Boston in 2016.
"I want to recognize veterans and everyone who thinks they can’t do something," Sanchez said. He ran the race for the Semper Fi Fund, which supports wounded veterans.
Mackenzie Wolf is an editorial intern for Military Times.
