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In competition, he is a teammate who beats. As a father, he dances with his childish son and wears it gently on his shoulders. As a soldier, he put his country before his body. Sgt retired army officer Christopher McGinnis is a warrior
"My motivation for the competition is really my two sons," says McGinnis. "They are my pride and my joy."
Knowing McGinnis, is knowing where he comes from. He grew up in a one-stop city in upstate New York State, with ambitions as big as his imposing physique. He was a star football player in high school and college, but after an injury slowed his playing career, he thought the army would give him a chance to see the world. He took him to Afghanistan in 2013, where a few weeks after his deployment he was confronted with IDF or indirect fire. In the chaos of the suites, he injured his right knee.
"I guess I did not know the gravity at that time," he says. "I was coming back from whatever mission we had … and my knee was the size of a basketball."
Finally, knee problems worsened and McGinnis was sent to the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. He would stay there for more than three years, receiving five surgeries and having a plate and seven screws in his knee.
Realizing that one's active lifestyle should change has affected him immensely. He suffered from a "profound deep depression" and struggled to find a new path in life.
"Have the doctor come in and tell you," The likelihood that you are still running is slim to no other "- that was really a hit to my ego, and a shot to the intestine, too" says McGinnis.
At a glance, McGinnis does not show the signs of the struggles he has gone through. He walks with the slightest hound and his personality is warm and gregarious. But it is the invisible wounds that compel him to share his story.
"No matter what injuries we have suffered, no matter where we are mentally, we are not down and out of combat," says McGinnis
This feeling was evident when McGinnis participated in the Warrior Games of the Department Defense in 2018. From the perspective of an observer, he seemed to be the heart and soul of all his teams. And he ended his interview with CBS News with a message to his colleagues competing with other branches of service.
"When we are here competing, we are one after the other, we are going to hunt you, we will do all the right thing," he says with a smile. Obviously, Team Army will be number 1, whatever happens. "
After the Warrior Games, McGinnis now hopes to join the wheelchair basketball team of Edinboro University of Pennsylvania.
© 2018 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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