A U.S. soldier doing 80 sit-ups isn't really a big deal considering the intense training and tip-top shape to which servicemen and women are subject.
But Monte Bernardo, 30, of Central California was able to do that one month after losing both of his legs and one hand in Afghanistan, The Marini Independent Journal reports. He has been working with people who hold physical therapy jobs at Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington, DC.
"The Taliban can't faze me, they can try, but here I come rising from the ashes of their little bomb, three out of four limbs, less than I had and still as strong as ever. Bring it," he wrote no more than two weeks after an explosion tore through his body while he was on patrol on July 4.
He told the news source that he began physical therapy a bit more than two weeks after the incident and that nurses and doctors told him he has healed faster than anyone who has passed through the D.C. medical center.
The 10-year period leading up to 2020 is projected to see physical therapy job opportunities increase 39 percent, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.