Local vets Biviano, Fuchs medal at 2017 Warrior games
Two local veterans who retired from military after suffering life-changing injuries recently returned from the 2017 Department of Defense Warrior Games in Chicago with gold, silver and bronze medals around their necks.
Jamie Biviano, of East Syracuse, who lived in Cazenovia in her teens and stills has ties to the community, and Justin Fuchs, a Caz resident since December 2016, battled with approximately 265 wounded, ill and injured service members and veterans at the games, which were held July 5 through 8 in Chicago.
Biviano, a retired Air Force senior airman, won the gold medal as the Ultimate Champion of the games, competing in six events and accumulating the most points of all competitors in those six events. She also won the individual gold medal in cycling.
“I was pretty shocked to say very least,” said Biviano about her Ultimate Champion gold medal. “But the best part about the games is being with other people who are going through same thing I’m going through.”
Fuchs, a retired Air Force staff sergeant, won the silver medal in cycling and the bronze medal in the 800-meter run.
“It was exhausting but fun,” Fuchs said of his experience. “Air Force got the highest medal count at the games, but in end that’s not what it’s really about — it’s about high fives, handshakes, hugs to other warriors you competed with … it’s a great feeling to be alongside other wounded warriors that have those injuries and you see them overcome them, compete and be an athlete.”
Created in 2010, the Department of Defense Warrior Games introduce wounded, ill and injured service members and veterans to paralympic-style sports. According to the event website, the Warrior Games showcase the resilient spirit of wounded, ill or injured service members from all branches of the military. After overcoming significant injuries and illnesses, these athletes prove that life can continue after becoming wounded, ill and injured.
The DoD Warrior Games feature eight adaptive sports: archery, cycling, field, shooting, sitting volleyball, swimming, track and wheelchair basketball. (The shooting event is conducted using Olympic competition pellet guns). The athletes represent the U.S. Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard and Special Operations Command, as well as the U.K. Armed Forces and Australian Defence Force.
Biviano wins gold
Jamie Biviano always knew, even as a child, that she wanted to join the military. Her family moved to Cazenovia when she was in her teens, and still lives on East Lake Road. Her uncle currently owns Loka Leaf Tea Shop on Albany Street.
Biciano ultimately joined the Air Force, serving as a security forces airman assigned to the 174th attack wing before her retirement. She served one year in Afghanistan.
“When I was deployed, I had the time of my life — I wish I could go back and do my job every day for rest of my life,” she said.
While she was deployed to Bagram Air Field in 2012, however, she started feeling sick. At first it seemed like a “horrible cold,” she said, but after her limbs started losing feeling, she developed extreme temperature sensitivity and, for a time, lost the ability to walk, she had a battery of medical tests. Ultimately, her medical team discovered a lesion on her spine and she was diagnosed with a rare disease called transverse myelitis.
Now, Biviano retains her temperature sensitivity and has balance issues. “When I close my eyes I fall over, which is kind of hilarious,” she said. She did regain her ability to walk. Her disease mimics multiple sclerosis in a way, she said.
“My disease is so rare they just don’t know how it will or will not progress – it could get worse or stay like this,” she said. “I’m glad I’m not as bad as some others who have this.”
In 2014, Biviano took medical retirement from the Air Force and, since that was her life’s calling, she felt lost. “That was the low point in my life – trying to figure out how to function, how to be a human being in society again,” she said.
One of the things that helped get her back on her feet was the assistance she received from Clear Path for Veterans in Chittenango, where she participated in the Dogs2Vets program, which provides emotional support to veterans with Post Traumatic Stress by establishing a reliable relationship between veterans and a canine companion. Biviano also started attending DoD Air Force Wounded Warrior camp — a different program from The Wounded Warrior Project — that not only helps veterans participate in adaptive sports, but also assists veterans in their transition out of the military and with paperwork and medical evaluations.
“I went to my first camp and fell in love,” she said. “It gave me the push I needed to pick myself up and do better things with my life.”
Biviano tried out for the Warrior Games in 2016 and again in 2017. This year, she tried out for swimming, shooting, cycling, volleyball, basketball and rowing, and made the team for cycling and swimming. When she showed up at team practice in Florida, the coaches told her they wanted her to compete in the Ultimate Champion event of six events of archery, shooting, swimming, cycling, track and field.
“That was crazy for me because I’d never done some of the sports they wanted me to do,” she said. “I had never done track, field or archery before – I was like what are you talking about? But they had a plan and that’s what I trained for; “and I turned out to be pretty decent in all of them.”
Biviano finished in the top eight in each competition except archery — “that one was a nightmare for me” — including sixth in shooting and first in cycling. She accumulated the most points and was crowned the Ultimate Champion.
“It was an amazing event, it really was,” Biviano said.
Biviano, who currently lives in East Syracuse with her fiancé, Jennifer, is currently not working, but trying to figure out what next to do with her life. She will “definitely” try out for the Air Force Wounded Warior Team again in 2018, she said, and in the meantime maybe attend college or become a dog trainer at Clear Path for Veterans.
“I thought I wouldn’t be able to do anything ever again, but, really, my options are just unlimited,” she said. “Once you are out of the military and trying to transition out and find your future, it’s almost like you lose a bit of yourself, almost lose hope and what expectations you had are just gone. Being part of this event was just humbling, it’s awesome to be with your brothers and sisters. Everybody is rooting, cheering; it’s just an amazing experience. It’s a reminder that you’re just not alone; you think you are, but you’re just not.”
Fuchs wins silver, bronze
Justin Fuchs, a medically-retired Air Force staff sergeant, spent 11 years in the military. His worked as a tactical air control party specialist, stationed and deployed with army ground troops, where he would help direct and call in air strikes. Fuchs served in Iraq in 2007 and was deployed twice to Afghanistan, in 2010 to 2012.
On his second deployment to Afghanistan in 2011, a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) hit approximately three to five meters away from his position. Luckily, a wall in front of him absorbed much of the blast, but impacted him from the shoulders up, he said. He was briefly unconscious, woke up, “wiped my face, didn’t see blood and continued on my mission,” he said.
The blast did cause damage, however, and he was diagnosed with Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) from the event. Since then, Fuchs has been receiving treatment for TBI and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
He was also awarded the purple heart.
TBI is like a concussion – it’s a brain injury, and the brain sometimes swells. He has trouble with memory, fine motor skills, sleep and balance, he said.
While stationed in Germany, Fuchs received a support dog as part of his medical recovery. His dog, Hans, helps Fuchs with balance and other daily abilities, he said.
Fuchs stayed on active duty as long as he could, but eventually took medical retirement in 2016. He found a job as a military contractor at Hancock Air Force Base in Syracuse, where he works with drone pilots at the tactical center.
He and his wife, Kandice, moved to Cazenovia in December 2016, and Justin was recently accepted to be a volunteer firefighter with the Cazenovia Fire Department. The couple is also expecting their first child. “We love the community,” he said.
Fuchs entered the Air Force Wounded Warrior program while he was still in the military, and this year was his first time trying out for the Air Force team in the Warrior Games. At the team trials in Las Vegas he participated in track, field, shooting and cycling, and made the team in track and cycling.
Hans did not compete with Fuchs during the events, but watched from the sidelines. “He’s very attentive when I’m competing; he’s very alert just to make sure I’m okay,” Fuchs said.
At the Chicago games in early July, Fuchs won a silver medal in cycling and a bronze medal in the 800-meter run.
“I met a lot of great people from other services,” he said. “You get to experience other people’s illnesses or injuries, share your stories and how you’ve dealt with your treatment, how you’re living life now and what’s next in your life … There was a lot of camaraderie.”
Fuchs said being a part of the DoD Wounded Warrior program “definitely” helped him transition back to civilian life and deal with his injuries. “I didn’t know what to do next,” he said. “I did 11 years in the military, and didn’t know what to do next.”
His advice to other veterans suffering from life-changing medical issues is that it is a normal part of life to go through traumatic events — “Don’t be afraid to reach out for help,” he said.
“Veterans often take their own lives because there is no support system; it can really save your life if you reach out and talk to someone,” he said. “Don’t forget, you’re a normal person of society. Sometimes you get looked at differently being a wounded warrior, but we’re normal — we’re people, no matter what we’ve been through.”
For more information about the Department of Defense Warrior Games, visit dodwarriorgames.com. To see photos from the 2017 Warrior Games, visit facebook.com/WarriorGames.
