A Texas boy through and through, Mikey was born in Austin. His interests growing up included soccer and paintball, which he always played with his dad. He could tell early on that he was naturally athletic and enjoyed pushing himself to the limits.
After high school, Mikey went on to try EMT school, but changed routes and decided to pursue a career with the military. He enlisted in the Marines in 2011 and was heading off to Bootcamp a few months later. Mikey trained in the School of Infantry before deploying on a Marine Expeditionary Unity (MEU) by ship for nine months, visiting 10 countries throughout Asia and East Africa as a show of force and presence in the area
In May 2014, two months after returning from the mission, Mikey was home when he got a massive headache. Hours later he felt a loud pop in his head. He immediately called 911 and when help arrived, the last thing he remembers was walking to the ambulance before going unconscious.
At the hospital, he went directly into emergency surgery for a ruptured aneurysm in his brain. He spent the next three months in a coma with a significant chunk of his skull sitting in a fridge as the doctors controlled his brain swelling. When he awoke, he had a lot to relearn including speaking, walking, and other tasks that were once easy.
Mikey has always been a fighter and got to work in rehab, focusing on gaining control of functions he had lost on his left side. He medically retired from the Marines on July 31st, 2016, and moved back to Texas to be closer to his parents, continuing on his journey to rehab.
In January of 2018, Mikey met his wife Kelsey and married her in the same year. Now they’re expecting a baby girl due in November. His motivation during the ReDefine program is fueled by his upcoming daughter. One of his main goals is to be able to trust his left side again so he can feel confident holding his baby and even change a diaper or two.
He wants to make physical improvements for practical life applications, including things like mowing the lawn and running again. His mindset has got him this far already and he is very motivated to put in the work during this ReDefine program.
