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5 Secrets to Survival From a Triple Amputee Marine Who Prevailed
Nick Kimmel lost an arm and both legs but never let his injuries beat him
Nick Kimmel's life changed during his second deployment in 2011.
Courtesy Nick Kimmel
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A high school baseball player who narrowly missed full scholarships, Nick Kimmel enlisted in the Marines with some buddies right out of school because he was attracted to the world of travel and adventure. He could fund college through the GI Bill afterward.
The Marine combat engineer, from Moses Lake, Washington, downplayed the hazards of the job to his parents, explaining during his first deployment to Afghanistan that he “builds stuff and helps people.” During his second deployment, in 2011, everything changed.
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“I was standing on a forklift, making sure the roof was on a guard post the right way — I do build stuff — and I jumped off the forklift and landed on a 40-pound IED,” he told AARP Veteran Report. “I’d been blown up a bunch of times, but that was the first time I had anything more than a concussion.”
Nick Kimmel lost both legs and his left arm during his second deployment in Afghanistan.
Courtesy Nick Kimmel
In that instant, Kimmel, who had just turned 22 and thrived on activities such as golf and snowboarding, lost both legs and his left arm. He doesn’t remember the explosion, nor the five following days before he woke up in a hospital. As a triple amputee, he faced many years of medical challenges ahead of him.
Kimmel remembers that when he did come to, he was terrified that he might have lost his dominant right hand. From the beginning, he didn’t dwell on his loss.
Here is some advice he would give to anyone facing a crisis in their life:
Push forward, but with structure
“You’re still active-duty, so you still have to follow those traditional protocols, but it’s way more relaxed,” he said. “We still have to go to formation every morning and make all your appointment times.” He recalled “chewing out a surgeon” for not doing a procedure he wanted and his gunnery sergeant reminding him: “You’re still in the military.”
Though frustrating in the moment, this mentality aligned with Kimmel’s attitude toward his injuries. “It is what it is. You’ve just got to push forward.”
Adjust your goals
Kimmel’s recovery with traditional prosthetics was trying, and not working for the lifestyle he still wanted to lead. “I used to jump off 60-foot cliffs, and now I go 10 feet on a [snowboarding] bunny trail and fall so hard,” he said. “I don’t even want to be out there anymore.”
He also had issues with skin breakdown and spent at least 30 minutes each morning trying to put all of his prosthetic limbs on. “If I didn’t get the leg just right, I’d have to start all over again.” He retired from the Marines two years after the explosion.
Embrace breakthrough treatments
Kimmel enrolled in a Walter Reed trial in 2018 for what is now the first FDA-approved bone-anchored prosthesis system, which involved a surgery attaching the prosthetics to the remaining bones in his arm and legs. Doctors attached all three new limbs, which can still be easily detached and reattached as needed, in one surgery.
Remain positive
Spending time in the hospital watching other “angry and disgruntled” patients only confirmed his choice to maintain a positive attitude.
“You see the way they are acting, and you see the reactions that you get from the hospital staff and family members — you don’t want to see that,” he said. “I told myself that I don’t want to be that person. I’m not a cheerleader like ‘Rah rah rah, let’s do this,’ but I’m not going to be super mad and disgruntled.”
With a new lease on life, Nick Kimmel has returned to some of his favorite sports.
Courtesy Nick Kimmel
Accept help
With a new lease on life, and three new limbs attached with the best new medical technology, Kimmel is back to working toward ambitious physical goals, including independent snowboarding and returning to a single-digit handicap in golf (he is now at a 12). He even competed in the 2021 Simpson Cup.
But he could not have done this alone. He works toward his goal with the support of his longtime physical therapist, his girlfriend and his parents — his father is his live-in caregiver at his San Diego home.
Live your life for those who did not get that chance
Kimmel’s future looks bright, as he travels, gives speeches and collaborates with nonprofits. He’s considering reactivating that early plan by heading to college using the GI Bill to further his education in the business world.
“If you dwell on the negative, you’re never going to come out of it. If you’re always looking at the dark end of the tunnel, you’re never going to see the light,” he said. “I need to live my life plus six or seven other lives to the fullest extent possible for my buddies who never left Afghanistan.”
You can subscribe here to AARP Veteran Report, a free e-newsletter published twice a month. If you have feedback or a story idea then please contact us here.
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