It will be the first time since his Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) in 2000 that Chris Lynch will ride a pedal bike in an event, but he will not ride alone.

Lynch, from Milton, will join more than 130 severely wounded veterans from all services from all around the country in the EscaRosa Independence Weekend Wounded Warrior Bicycle Rally. The public is invited to join these heroes either as participants or as morale builders along the route through Gulf Breeze.

Lynch was injured in a training mishap in France while on joint mission exercises as a paratrooper with the 82nd Airborne. According to his mother, Cheryl, after the accident doctors did not give her much hope that Lynch could return to a remotely active life.

Instead, he battled back both physically and cognitively to become an example of what is possible with the proper support network. Lynch has been utilizing a hand-cycle that is propelled by the rotation of the hands instead of the feet as part of his rehabilitation and recovery.

Lynch spent years regaining the use of his body and his brain.

"People have told me that I would never be able to do this or that again," Lynch told Gulf Breeze News. "I want to get out there and prove everybody wrong. When I was at a hospital in Germany, a doctor had the audacity to walk up to my mother and tell her that I would be a vegetable for the rest of my life."

Lynch After his injury, Lynch spent 28 days in a French civilian hospital on life support. He was then transferred between Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., and the Tampa Veterans Administration Hospital. It was 10 months before Lynch was allowed to return home.

"Chris went through military medical system and TBI rehab," his mother remembers. "He then came home where he started true rehab - with the VA for general health and civilian facilities for the best therapeutic options."

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It has been a long struggle for Lynch and his family, but the efforts have paid off with progress far beyond his original prognosis. Families coordinate all the benefits, and there is no one benefit that covers all the care required. It is a balancing act, but Cheryl Lynch has been more than up to the challenge.

Submitted photos/Graphic illustration by Scott Cleveland/Gulf Breeze News Chris Lynch (left) and Robin Griffith are just two of the many veterans who have battled unthinkable personal war injuries and returned to make great contributions in civilian life. They will bike through Gulf Breeze early on Saturday morning. After fighting to afford her son the best care possible, she was instrumental in the incorporation of the Independence Fund and also formed the American Veterans with Brain Injuries (AVBI.org ), a non-profit specifically dedicated to serving the unique needs of veterans with TBI. The Independence Fund originally was created to fund operations for vets not easily provided through the traditional wounded veteran benefits.

"I know for my son, sports and recreation gave him back an opportunity to feel like there was life after his injury," Cheryl said. "And these kinds of rides bring back a camaraderie that is lost once they are medically retired or discharged from the military."

This mother-and-son team has done much more than heal themselves. They have fought for others and won many victories on behalf of all wounded veterans. Last week, Cheryl turned activist and presented the case of veterans before the U. S. House Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigation, Leave No One Behind mandate. She stood tall before the Committee on Veteran Affairs for her son and all wounded veterans.

Chris Lynch clearly inherited her spirit and determination, because five years after his injury, he reached the finish line of the New York City Marathon on a hand cycle. He went on to complete a degree in Recreation Technologies at PJC, and has been volunteering and competing in marathons for several years using a hand cycle.

¦ This weekend, he will mount a pedal bike, facing one more challenge along his path to recovery.

Griffith overcomes burns to live normally

Cpl. Robin Griffith (USMC, Ret.) also will ride in Saturday's rally and is excited to be a part of the whole event. Though his injuries are severe, he considers himself lucky as compared to the obstacles other vets face.

"It would be absolutely priceless for me and all the men and women going through this process to see a large crowd on Saturday," he says. "It helps with recovery for us to be together and to feel that we are supported. One thing I hear from all the guys is consistently how important it is for us to participate in these events. The camaraderie and community support is great."

Nicknamed "Griff," the medically retired veteran, 26, lives in contradiction to the label "permanently disabled." He coaches his son's tee-ball team, attends Pensacola Junior College, and despite being labeled 100-percent disabled by the Veterans Administration, he continues to serve.

"I am a Marine. I adapt to whatever happens, and I overcome that," he says with obvious pride. "I intend to live a full life. I am already living a full life with my kids and my wife in our home. I also want to contribute beyond those four walls to my community and my society. I am an American, and no disability can change that."

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Griff's positive energy and determination runs deep. His father served in the U.S. Army, and his grandfather is a World War II veteran who served in the U.S. Navy. He enlisted in the Marine Corps after the terrorist attack of Sept. 11, 2001, and deployed to Iraq for the initial invasion in 2003. He went on to serve a second combat tour in extremely high-resistance areas such as Naziriyah and Iscanderia, just south of Baghdad.

On Jan. 27, 2005, Griff was sleeping when his unit came under attack by insurgents. He was burned on 33 percent of his body and received extensive shrapnel injuries to the left side of his body.

"I remember being under attack, and all I could think of was getting home to my wife and my three-month old son," he remembers.

His one concern during evacuation to Baghdad was that he would die and his baby son would grow up without knowing his father. He fought back through numerous surgeries and skin grafts. While in the hospital, Griff received his Purple Heart; because he had no clothes, just dressings on all his wounds, the medal was pinned to his bandages.

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After six months of extensive physical therapy and rehabilitation for burn care and injuries at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas, he returned to Milton with his wife, Tania, a Milton High School graduate. They returned to her hometown where they are now raising their son Chase, 4, and daughter Zoe, 8 months, close to home.

A trip back to Camp Lejeune to attend a celebrity golf tournament changed the course of Griff's life. After seeing amputees and other disabled golfers play, he decided to take up golf. Later, he participated in the Wounded Warrior Operation Outreach program, traveling a wide region of the country as part of an effort to bring Wounded Warrior Project services to others who suffered severe injuries in Iraq or Afghanistan.

"It's chaotic, coming back from Iraq or Afghanistan," he explains. "It's such a big transition. The wounded have to be patient with their own recovery, with their physical and mental health. It really helps me when I am able to go out and help these guys coming back from an injury. I can tell them, 'Hey, look! I am fine! You are going to be OK!' It makes me feel like I am still in there doing what I need to be doing and looking out for my guys."

"I don't think it is optional for all of us to be a part of this. In America, we enjoy a lot of freedoms, and the private sector does have a responsibility to support the veterans tangibly," he challenges. "We clear the way for them to prosper in a safe environment. I think we need to all dig in together."

Griff says it is amazing how small the world is for injured vets.

"My rehabilitation specialist (in San Antonio), Maj. Lynn Burns, was a Gulf Breeze High School grad. She gave me excellent care and excellent compassion. And now I am going to take this ride with my guys and stop at her school for a break.

"It really is a small world, and we are in it together."

INFORMATION

The Independence Weekend was organized to raise funds to help support the unmet needs of seriously wounded veterans and show support for these American heroes injured on the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan.

You can enter as a participant in the Wounded Warrior Bicycle Rally on Saturday, May 16. The 25- mile course will wind along Bayfront Parkway, cross the Three-Mile Bridge and proceed through Gulf Breeze to the Bob Sikes Bridge, along Via de Luna Drive on Pensacola beach to Park East, then back to Veterans Memorial Park.

Non-riders are encouraged to attend to either watch and cheer for wounded vets participating in the ride, which begins at 7 a.m. on Saturday, May 16, or to participate in the Family-Fun 5K Walk/Run, which will begin at 8 a.m. at Veterans Memorial Park.

Registration is $30, and links are available for all three events online at www.EscaRosaIndependen ceWeekend.com.

A post-ride benefit concert by Stephen Cochran, whose hit single 'Friday Night Fireside' is from his recently released self-titled album, begins at 8 p.m. on Saturday at Seville Quarter. Advance tickets are $20 and will be available for purchase at Seville Quarter, 130 East Government Street, and online at Rosies.com through today, May 14.

Tickets will be $25 at the door.