By Donna Butler, WTC Stratcom
SGT Seyward McKinney will compete in the 10K recumbent cycling and sitting shot-put events at the 2011 Warrior Games.
In March 2009, AW2 Veteran SGT Seyward McKinney’s life changed. After returning from Iraq, McKinney was diagnosed with an arteriovenous malformation (AVM) in her brain. She was treated at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and underwent numerous surgeries and nine days after the last, one of the vessels in her brain leaked, which caused her to have a stroke. Paralyzed on the right side of her body, she lost her right-sided peripheral vision. Although her injuries are not combat-related, she is a living testament that non-combat related injuries can challenge Soldiers just as much as combat-related injuries.
McKinney is stationed at the Walter Reed Warrior Transition Unit (WTU) and is working diligently to learn how to overcome her injuries. Her efforts have empowered herself to reach another milestone in her life—competing in the 2010 Warrior Games. She competed in the women’s sitting shot-put, in addition to 10K recumbent cycling, sitting volleyball, and wheelchair basketball. These events helped her attain the sense of teamwork she enjoyed in the Army and now can continue to enjoy with athletics. At the 2010 Warrior Games, she won a gold medal in cycling and a bronze medal in shot-put. These two achievements demonstrated to McKinney that with determination and passion, she could continue to succeed.
Over the past year, she continued physical, occupational, and speech therapy, and uses horseback riding as a way to help treat her injuries. Her performance at the 2010 Warrior Games inspired her to continue striving to reach other goals. Since 2010, McKinney purchased a home, participated in a Paws for Purple Hearts internship to work with animals that assist wounded, ill, and injured Veterans, and competed in the New Orleans Ironman competition. These achievements inspired McKinney to raise the bar.
Today, McKinney continues to not let her injuries stand in her way. In a short few weeks, she will return to the Warrior Games to compete in 10K recumbent cycling and sitting shot-put. Her father, William McKinney, is her coach and personal trainer and helps her train for the Warrior Games at the YMCA. Every week, she completes aggressive workouts three times a week and bikes on various local trails. When asked why she is competing again, she responded, “I’d like to keep improving my time on the bike and distance on the shot-put. Looking for speed and distance this time will hopefully lead towards the opportunity to earn another medal.”
She sees the Warrior Games as an opportunity to compete against herself. It’s an opportunity to prove to herself that if she can make it to this level athletically once again, then she can continue to succeed in other areas of her civilian life.
