CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. - More than 300 ill and injured Marines are getting ready for what may be the toughest test of their lives: a grueling week of trials for the competition at the Warrior Games in Colorado later this spring.
The opening ceremony of the Marine Corps trials took place Thursday afternoon and Camp Pendleton. Each participant is injured in different ways and will compete in different events, but they all have the same goal: winning.
"I never thought I was going to be able to play sports again," Cpl. Brad Fite said. "Being able to do this and being able to compete at this level is just incredible."
Fite was seriously injured by an improvised explosive device while serving in Afghanistan in 2010. He is on the wheelchair basketball team, and he is set to swim in two events.
He still has a long way to go with his spinal injuries, but he said he is ready to compete.
"I spent a long time in a wheelchair," Fite said. “It's not nice to get back in it, but it's fun."
Four teams will compete in events like sitting volleyball, cycling, track & field, and archery.
The athletes are competing for a place on the All-Marine team at the Warrior Games in Colorado in Aprio, and the top 60 get a spot.
Col. Jay Krail is the executive officer for the USMC Wounded Warrior Regiment.
"Getting them out here with their brothers who have like illnesses and injuries is an extremely healing thing. It’s life changing," Krail said.
