On Sept. 7, 2012, a year to the day after an improvised explosive device took his sight in Afghanistan, Brad Snyder stood atop a podium in London and heard "The Star Spangled Banner."
Snyder, a former captain of the U.S. Naval Academy swim team, had just won his second Paralympic gold medal, and he hadn't even learned how to be blind.
At that point in Snyder's life, everything still seemed to be hurtling by him in a rush. He had no interest in staying idle or living as a victim after stepping on that IED in a Panjwai valley, as evidenced by his decision to run a 5K less than a month after the explosion and get back in the pool shortly after that.