Double-amputee cycling across US to support other vets
By News Staff
Reporting by Kainani Stevens
kstevens@abc6.com
A marine’s cross-country bike ride made a stop in Providence Tuesday morning. The double-amputee veteran is hand-cycling over 4,000 miles to support other wounded vets.
It was a warm welcome for Marine combat veteran, Toran Gaal, as his bike tour rolled through Rhode Island. Providence is the 51st stop on Gaal’s 65-day journey across America, a daunting task that Gaal is taking on to raise funds for other wounded veterans.
"About day 10, I was like, ‘I’m getting tired. But the fact that I’ve done so many deployments and I have seen so many guys pay the ultimate sacrifice, that I was able to dig down deep and use them as internal motivation to keep going. They're looking down on me and they don't want to see me give up,’” Gaal explains.
The marine sergeant is a double amputee who lost his legs when an I.E.D. exploded beneath him while he was deployed in Afghanistan. Gaal uses a specially designed hand-cycle bike for this grueling 4,000 mile trek, gaining inspiration from every stop along the way.
"You see so much negativity around the world, for me to get so much support in every city and town, it re-inspires you, no matter how tired you are. Like today we came into Providence and the Providence Police and Fire greeted us a few miles out, and that alone wakes you up,” says Gaal.
So far, Gaal has raised over $30,000 for the Semper Fi Fund, but he admits that whether he raises one dollar or one million, he is just happy to be giving back.
© WLNE-TV 2015
