"Guys, if I could just tell you anything, there is light at the end of that tunnel."
Earl Granville
In the days leading up to Veterans Day, WNPR brings you stories from veterans and those in their community.
Adaptive athlete Earl Granville joined the Pennsylvania Army National Guard with his twin brother. He was medically retired from the Army after being hit by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan in 2008.
"My leg was amputated from the knee down," Granville said. "I remember laying on the ground and thinking to myself, What the heck’s going to happen to me now? I could see the toll it was taking on my twin brother, Joe. I didn't realize how serious it was at the time. It just ended up expanding into something much more than any of us even thought at the time, to be honest with you.
"December of 2010, Joe took his own life. After he passed away I started myself going into this little downward spiral. And, you know, I thought to myself, Would he be proud of me right now in the way I’m acting? And so that was my motivation, just to do stuff. Not just to help myself, but in the long run, it grew into helping others, dealing with the mental demons that I was facing. And the dilemma my brother had before he passed away.
"Guys, if I could just tell you anything, there is light at the end of that tunnel. You just have to find it. We all have a purpose in life. Even after the military. There’s so many things out there, so many new goals to reach, so many passions to find. Believe me."
