On April 2, 2007, during his fourth tour in Iraq, Bobby’s HMMV was hit by a roadside bomb known in military circles as an IED (improvised explosive devise). In a matter of seconds, Bobby went from “normal” to the only survivor of a horrific attack with 38% of his body covered in burns.
He went on to spend six months in the hospital at Fort Sam-Houston. Two years into recovery with still no use of his left hand, Bobby chose to have an amputation…yet another “thing” to endure, but something Bobby hasn’t allow to keep him from living life. (When I met him, we were playing golf together in Canada during the 2nd Annual Wounded Warriors Weekend, and honestly, he could whack the ball better than many two-handed folk.)
Now, as a public figure, Bobby openly shares is story around the world. Here is what he shared with Teal Star:
#1 What was it like recovering from the HMV attack?
At first, I didn’t really realize how hurt I was. I know it was the shock at that point, but as I started to learn about the details of the attack, survivor’s guilt set in and I began asking, “why me?” Then I started to feel like a burden. I mean, my sister, wife and kids were in the hospital with me. Every time I went into a surgery they had to endure the worry of whether or not I would make it out of the operating room alive.
What many people don’t know, especially my family while this was going on…and something I don’t like to talk about…is that I would pray every night to die. Every night for a year, I would pray that I would just fall asleep and die so my family wouldn’t have to go through this with me—they would be free.
Every night I would pray only to wake up the next morning. So, finally, after a year, I said, “OK. I’m here for a reason. I just need to figure out what that reason is.” So, instead of praying to die every night, I chose to start being grateful for the little things. Breathing. The love of my family. The little victories in my recovery. Being alive. Then I started to ask myself, “What would I want them—the guys who died in the explosion—to do if I had died and they had made it?”
#2 How did you start speaking publicly?
#3 So, why comedy?
At first, comedy was my defense mechanism. Not only that, it helped other people around me to feel better. During physical therapy, I would crack jokes about myself, other Soldiers and the therapist. Being funny not only helped to distract me from the pain, it helped everyone around me.
My Occupational Therapist kept nagging me to do stand-up. I told her no way so many times—until finally one day I said, “OK. I’ll try it.” It ended up being even more fun than cracking jokes during therapy because people weren’t expecting it.