OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — Army veteran Chris Parnell is in terrific shape.
“We don’t stop exercising because we get old, we get old because we stop exercising,” Patrick Reynolds, Parnell’s trainer, said. “I think Chris is a testament to that. I never would guess that Chris is 50 years old.”
Parnell served from 1989 to 1992 and fought in the Persian Gulf War.
“I loved my time in the military and wish I had more time,” he said.
His time was cut short once he returned to the states.
“A guy rolled a hummer 2 1/4 times on guard duty. We didn’t even make a full lap around the place that we were guarding,” Parnell said. “I broke my T-12 and had spinal cord damage. Which means I couldn’t do my job anymore. I was a cavalry scout, so I did most of my job behind enemy lines.”
Parnell was paralyzed from the waist down. His military career — over.
He told me he was in a very dark place, wondering why this happened to him.
“I’d be wheeling in the mall and just glaring at every person just waiting for them to even look at me.”
More than a decade after the accident, the Lincoln resident saw an article about a fitness center at the Paralyzed Veterans of America Great Plains Chapter in Omaha.
“I was like, oh man, I need to see about checking that out.”
He made the drive to Omaha, and the rest is history.
“It was getting back to being athletic again; that got me out of the dark period,” Parnell said. “Otherwise, I was stuck in that for almost 13 years.”
He now makes the drive multiple times a week to work out with Reynolds, who serves as the chapter’s Sports and Fitness Director.
“This is an individualized program for each person, you have an appointment time for yourself, you’re not coming into a gym with 100 people and one coach,” Reynolds said.
The program is available to paralyzed veterans along with everyone in our community with a disability.
On top of that, there are no financial barriers like you would see in most cases.
“They (PVA GP chapter) support this program 100 percent financially. We ask for $25 a month to train here, nobody tracks it, that’s the last thing I want to do is worry about money,” Reynolds said. “It would be extremely expensive to do this somewhere else because you would have to pay someone to be with you one on one.”
On top of the cross-fit style workouts, Parnell has competed for the PVA Great Plains chapter in billiards, bowling, softball, and tennis.
“I’ve traveled all over the country playing tennis. I would like to get to the point where I'm traveling all over the world,” Parnell said.
His favorite trip came in 2008 to St. Louis.
“I was the B division U.S. Open champion.”
An achievement Parnell couldn’t have imagined in 1992.
“The impact that this place has had on my life is immense.”
Parnell told me PVA is a great opportunity for veterans to get out and be social as well.
If you would like to learn more about the Paralyzed Veterans of America Great Plains chapter, click here.
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