Army Sgt. Elizabeth Marks was thrilled to be the recipient of the 2016 Pat Tillman Award for Service at the ESPYs this past summer, but there’s much more to Marks than meets the eye. The ESPY Award (short for Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly Award), presented by the ESPN television network, recognizes individual and team athletic achievement and other sports-related performance during the calendar year.

At just 26, Marks has accomplished a lot, and endured even more. In 2010, she suffered bilateral hip injuries while serving in Iraq, and in 2014, sustained a respiratory infection that led to a month-long medically induced coma. She rose above all this adversity and believes she is a better person for it.

“These experiences have really helped strengthen me, and make me appreciate the life I have, and what I’ve been able to accomplish,” she said. “I have a really great support system of service members all over the world who have been injured—like myself. So if I’m ever having a hard day or if I’m having troubles, they’re there for me to give that push I need to endure and be successful.”

Like her father, James Marks, a veteran of Vietnam, she enlisted in the Army at age 17. Before she was deployed to Iraq as a combat medic, James gave Elizabeth his dog tags, which she considers her most prized possession.

She began swimming in 2012 as a means of physical therapy for her hip injuries. Several months later, she was accepted into the World Class Athlete Program (WCAP), which allows athletes to train in their sports while still working for their respective military branches. She conducts her training in Fort Carson, Colorado.

At the 2016 Invictus Games, Marks won the gold medal in the 100-meter and 50-meter freestyle, and 50-meter breaststroke and backstroke swimming competitions. At the 2016 Paralympic Games, she won the bronze medal in the women’s 4 x 100 medley relay, and won the gold medal and set world records in both the 100-meter and 50-meter breaststroke events.

Marks says it’s not competition that drives her, but being able to help other service members who have been injured or disabled. “As much as I love swimming, and I will continue to do so, I more look forward to finding ways to help other service men and women who are recovering and trying to overcome disabilities,” she said. “That’s where my heart is, to try to help guide people who are dealing with experiences similar to those I had when I was injured. My focus is to show them they can repurpose their pain and experiences, and make them triumphs.”

Marks stated she’s thrilled to have received the Pat Tillman Award for Service. “It was amazing, and kind of a whirlwind,” she said. “I didn’t know what the ESPYs were because I really don’t watch sports. Being from Arizona, I know who Pat Tillman was and what he had done, but I asked the person who called and informed me, ‘What are the ESPYs?’ The person from ESPN laughed and he told me what they were, but it was a great and humbling experience.”

Also this year, Marks says she had the good fortune to meet someone she idolizes — former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice at the National Football League women’s symposium. Marks said she was awestruck by the encounter. “I was very nervous talking to her,” she said. “I usually don’t feel that way when talking to someone, but I’ve read a lot of things she’s written, and I have a great deal of respect for her, and think she’s an amazing person.”

Now Marks is preparing to compete in the 2020 Paralympic games in Japan, but staying connected with her military ‘family’ remains a top priority. “Being able to mentor other service members is so healingly awesome,” she said. “I get to share a big part of my life with others, and to see their eyes light up when they spend time with me is pretty special.”