Ten years ago while deployed in Afghanistan, United States Marine Jose Luis Sanchez stepped on an improvised explosive device and lost his leg. Suddenly his life had changed.

“I was isolated. My emotions were confused. My mind was confused. My heart was confused. It was a new world for me emotionally, and that was the hardest part,” Sanchez says about coming to terms with his new life.

Sanchez found CrossFit due to a suggestion from a friend, and it helped him use fitness to heal and strengthen himself emotionally.

“(CrossFit) was so foreign to me,” he says. “How can I do this with a prosthetic? I can’t drive from my legs, I can’t jump … but I was determined to do it.”

With the addition of the adaptive divisions in the CrossFit Open, Sanchez has signed up to participate in  the 2021 season.

“Pushing myself to the limit is leading by example. There’s nothing that an adaptive athlete can’t do,” Sanchez says.

In this episode, learn more about Sanchez’s story and hear from his wife, Dulce, on how she helped him throughout his journey.