Afghan hero inspiration to war-wounded Paralympians

LONDON – The explosion that took away Brad Snyder’s sight couldn’t touch the Navy lieutenant’s fighting spirit.

A year after stepping on an improvised explosive device laid by Taliban that he was trying to detect while on duty in Kandahar, the American is swimming at the London Paralympics – and adding sporting medals to his military decorations.

“It was pretty much immediate that I (decided) I was going to try and minimize my blindness as much as possible, and get out and pursue success,” Snyder told The Associated Press. “And thankfully my support network was pretty savvy and said, ‘You should check out this Paralympic swimming thing.”’

Snyder’s glad he listened, having quickly excelled with the same determination he applied to clearing IEDs in one of the most dangerous Afghanistan assignments.

Before Friday’s anniversary of the blast, Snyder has already been on the London podium twice: winning gold in the 100-meter freestyle and silver in the 50.

“This is something every kid dreams of when they are 8,” he said. (AP)