Kirstie Ennis

A self-described hellion growing up, Kirstie Ennis has always had the fire inside of her to overcome virtually any obstacle. That trait was put to the test on June 23, 2012, when the helicopter she was a door gunner on crashed in Afghanistan while performing combat resupplies. Kirstie, the daughter of two Marines, had planned to stay in the Marine Corps for a full career. The injuries she sustained as a result of the crash, which included an above-the-knee amputation on her left leg and a traumatic brain injury, forced her to medically retire from the Marine Corps in 2014. The fire inside was never needed more than in her years of recovery, fighting to become something greater than the person she was before joining the military. And Kirstie has done just that. She's now a mountaineer, Olympic hopeful, and the first female US veteran above-the-knee amputee to summit Carstensz Pyramid, a 16K foot peak in Indonesia...And she's working on a host of other high alpine summits! She's also just an all-around incredible and inspiring human being, and we're beyond honored to have her on the Hazard Ground Podcast!  www.theheroesproject.org | www.thevetsproject.com