Meet Adaptive Athlete: 

Ronnie Mondragón

Ronnie grew up in El Paso, Texas and Germany. He played soccer starting from a young age and was active in computer club and marching band as a young man. His high school marching band even got to participate in the Orange Bowl Parade one year! Ronnie enlisted in the Army as an Information Technology Specialist after high school and was in a Signal detachment of 5th Group, deploying multiple times in his career.

 

In early 2001, Ronnie injured his back during a parachute jump. The injury was exacerbated over six deployments and more than 40 other jumps. In 2011, he had a discogram which increased the severity of the injury. Ronnie had to use a wheelchair after that and had a spinal fusion surgery in 2012. He faced many challenges with the healthcare system during his recovery, and spent a lot of time fighting depression and the effects of being sedentary. He leaned heavily on his friends from the military to help him through the tough days.

 

Ronnie was part of an ATF Hyper class, and wants to use his ReDefine experience to improve his quality of life and be more physically mobile and healthy. He wants to be able to go play golf with his father and his sons. Mentally, Ronnie wants to reach a point where he gives himself grace on his bad days and overcome challenges in his life.