Marine Corps veteran, amputee embodies rehabilitative mission, spirit of event

Marine Corps veteran Jatáya Taylor and her service dog, Kahara, focus on fly fishing at the National Disabled Veterans Winter Sports Clinic in Snowmass, Colo. This was Taylor’s first time at the clinic. “The opportunity to try new activities is what really caught my eye,” said Taylor. She credits adaptive sports with saving her life in the aftermath of her injuries.

Surfing was just one of the many activities Jatáya Taylor enjoyed growing up. Her competitive disposition and active lifestyle made the Marine Corps a natural fit when she decided to enlist. Unfortunately, Taylor’s service was suddenly cut short in 2005 after a training accident severely injured her shoulder and knee, confining her to a wheelchair.

“When I found out I wasn’t going to be physically active how I used to be, it took a big toll on my mental health—depression set in, anxiety—and it just became a world that I really didn’t want to live in until I found adaptive sports,” Taylor explained. “And that gave me the motivation to say, ‘I can still be who I was. I just have to do it differently.’”

That determination and spirit is what earned Taylor the 2018 DAV Freedom Award at the National Disabled Veterans Winter Sports Clinic in Snowmass, Colo. The award is presented each year to the veteran who proves to the world that an injury or disability does not bar the doors to freedom.

Though Taylor has participated in a dozen other adaptive sporting events since being introduced to kayaking in 2012, this year was her first time attending the clinic.

“What stands out about Jay is that she’s gone through many of the same things these participants, including myself, have gone through,” said Past National Commander Dave Riley, a quadruple amputee and clinic chairman. “They’re wrestling with depression, not knowing what they’re capable of. That’s what’s good about this clinic; you get them out there and show them what they can do.”

“The opportunity to try new activities is what really caught my eye,” explained Taylor, whose leg was eventually amputated above the knee in 2017. “I just learned how to snowboard, and this is a good chance to improve my skills.”

It was the camaraderie found at adaptive sporting events that had the most influence on Taylor’s decision to attend the clinic. She said it helps her connect with her fellow ill and injured veterans.

“To have organizations like the VA and DAV put on an event like this is liberating for veterans,” Taylor said. “You understand what we go through, and without this, a lot of people probably wouldn’t get out there.”

Taylor offered the hundreds of fellow ill and injured veteran participants an important reminder after accepting the award.

“We’re not necessarily disabled,” she said. “We’re just differently abled.”