A 25-year-old retired U.S. Marine was forced to skip the Invictus Games in Orlando because of her wound.
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Kirstie Ennis gets treatment at Balboa Naval Medical Center following a 2012 helicopter crash in Afghanistan.
She was going to compete in swimming at Invictus but after 43 surgeries, including the amputation of her leg, she had to sit out.
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"So really having to toughen that leg up then dealing with a couple of other injuries that's what kept me from going to Invictus. Damage that's been done to my abductor tendon and the muscle that were folded over the end of my femur," she explained.
Prince Harry took note of her story and became her friend. He also founded the Invictus Games for paralympians.
"He's been beyond supportive of me during my recovery," Ennis said.
Ennis is from The South. She hopes to eventually return to her family and her hobby.
"Definitely still going to get back on my board and go snowboarding," she said. "I just have to work out a few kinks and figure out the prosthetics and that side of things, but 2018 paralympic hopeful for South Korea, hoping for a podium."
Snowboarding doesn't just give Ennis a chance to compete, it allows her to once again represent the country she fought for.
"Your circumstances don't control you," Ennis said. "You control your circumstances."
