Heath Calhoun

Heath Calhoun is an alpine skier, a silver medal-winning Paralympian, and a veteran of the United States Army, who achieved the rank of staff sergeant. A double-leg amputee due to injuries received in the Iraq War, Calhoun uses a sit-ski on the slopes. He is a certified mono-ski instructor.

Calhoun actively works as an advocate for the needs of the wounded soldier. His most notable accomplishment was helping to get the Wounded Warrior Bill passed through Congress in 2005 to become the Wounded Warrior Bill of Rights Act. Known as traumatic injury protection, the legislation financially assists wounded soldiers and their families during the months, and sometimes years, of grueling rehabilitation.

Calhoun, a native of Grundy, Virginia, graduated from Grundy Senior High School in 1997. After earning an associate's degree from Southwest Virginia Community College in 1999, he joined the U.S. Army, as his father and grandfather had done. Upon his enlistment, he was sent to Fort Benning, Georgia, where he completed infantry, airborne, and Ranger training. He was sent to serve in Iraq as a squad leader in the 101st Airborne Division. While riding in a convoy, his Humvee was struck by a rocket-propelled grenade. The explosion killed one soldier and severely damaged Calhoun's legs, necessitating the amputation of both limbs above the knee. He spent the next nine months recuperating at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

Five months after his injury, Calhoun tried skiing for the first time at a sports clinic in Aspen, Colorado. In 2008, he moved to Aspen to begin training seriously for international alpine skiing competitions. At the 2009 U.S. Adaptive Alpine National Championships, he took second place in the sit-ski slalom and first in the sit-ski super G. He was selected for the U.S. alpine skiing team at the 2010 Winter Paralympics in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Providing encouragement and counseling for other amputees has become a serious interest for Calhoun. During his initial rehabilitation at Walter Reed, Heath became acquainted with the Wounded Warrior Project. The shared experiences of the groups members proved to be invaluable to him during his recovery and later he wanted to so the same for others.

So he began sharing his experiences, successes, struggles and the unique challenges that amputees face daily. Eventually, the group asked him to be a spokesperson and now he meets with, and counsels the newly injured around the country.

He also became an Amputee Coalition of America (ACA) certified peer visitor. Through this organization he makes himself available to others who have lost limbs and provides emotional and informational support to them.

During his recovery, he was introduced to various adaptive sporting events and he immediately became an enthusiast. It seems that there is not a sport that Heath is not willing to try and, according to many, in which he doesn’t excel.

Just five months after he was injured he attended a Winter Sports Clinic in Aspen, Colorado where he attempted snow skiing for the first time. He initially tried to learn how to snow board but found it very difficult to balance on his prosthetic legs.

A friend encouraged him to try skiing using a mono-ski. After the first day of skiing he was hooked! Heath was awarded the Challenge Aspen Inspiration Award, not just for his athleticism, but awarded to the one person who best embodied the spirit of inspiration on and off the snow.