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Dear Friend,
The explosion was so powerful it ripped a military vehicle in half and hurled it into the air.
On April 27, 2011, U.S. Army Sgt. Dan Rose was scanning the roads of southern Afghanistan for hidden explosives — doing the job that kept other soldiers alive — when his truck rolled over a culvert.
A 1,000-pound IED detonated beneath him.
Steel folded like paper. Shrapnel tore through the vehicle. The concussion was violent enough to break bones, crush metal, and kill many soldiers in similar attacks.
Dan survived.
But when the dust settled, he knew something was terribly wrong. He couldn’t feel his legs.
He was paralyzed from the chest down
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After emergency surgery at Walter Reed, Dan was told the words no warrior ever expects to hear:
You will never walk again.
The soldier who once cleared routes for others now faced a life in a wheelchair. Standing. Walking. Looking someone in the eye. All gone.
The physical pain was only part of it. In the months that followed, depression set in. Independence slipped away. “I felt like I was existing,” Dan says. “Not living.”
Then something remarkable happened —
and it happened because people like you refused to look away.
Through SoldierStrong, Dan was introduced to the SoldierSuit, a cutting-edge robotic exoskeleton that allows paralyzed veterans to stand, walk, and reclaim a piece of their freedom.
The first time the straps tightened, the motors whirred, and Dan took a step, everything changed.
“The feeling of standing and walking again is indescribable,” Dan says. “The first time I stood up and looked across the room, it was like reaching the summit of a mountain and looking down on the world.”
In that moment, years of frustration were replaced with hope. Dan wasn’t just surviving anymore…
he was living again.
That single step opened the door to a life he thought was gone forever. Dan went on to ski the Rockies. Complete the Chicago Marathon. Surf both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Mine gold in Alaska. Tutor schoolchildren and watch their confidence grow.
It all began with the gift of movement — made possible by SoldierStrong donors.
Right now, hundreds of paralyzed veterans are still waiting for that chance.
The SoldierSuit is life-changing, but it’s also expensive. Each unit costs tens of thousands of dollars. Without support, these heroes remain trapped in wheelchairs — unable to stand to hug their children, unable to look the world in the eye, wondering if they’ve been forgotten.
When you give to SoldierStrong, you’re not just funding technology. You’re restoring dignity. You’re giving independence. You’re proving that life doesn’t end with injury.
Dan Rose is living proof of what’s possible when Americans step up.
This is your chance to stand with those who stood for us.
Every $35 moves us closer to putting a SoldierSuit on another hero and giving them their first step forward.
Don’t wait.
Give now and help a hero stand tall again.
With gratitude,
Dr. Chris Meek
Founder & CEO, SoldierStrong
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