Jen Yung Lee
My name is Jen Yung Lee; I was born in Taipei, Taiwan, but immigrated to the United States with my family when I was 8 years old. We moved to San Francisco, CA, where I graduated from Westmoor High School in 2004, however after witnessing the terrors of September 11, 2001, I understood the need and wanted to serve our great country. That day instilled an unquenchable conviction in me, as a desire to protect, thus immediately upon graduation I joined the military and accepted a career as a helicopter mechanic. I had an opportunity to fulfill my conviction in 2006 during a one-year deployment to a combat zone in Iraq. I returned to Hawaii, having earned the rank of Sergeant (E5) during the deployment. In March 2009, while stationed in Savannah, Georgia, I was involved in a motorcycle accident, which resulted in an above the left knee amputation one month later. During my strenuous rehab, at the Brooke Army Medical Center in Fort Sam Houston, Texas, I was introduced to sled hockey through Operation Comfort (a nonprofit group providing rehabilitative and therapeutic programs for wounded vets). Little did I know that this introduction, would eventually lead me to the loftiest opportunity of my athletic career. To defend a net atop a frozen pond and display my lightning-quick reflexes, as a goaltender for the 2014 U.S. Paralympic Sled Hockey Team in Sochi, Russia. After serving in the United States Army for 10 years, I was medically retired with the rank of staff sergeant in 2015.
After winning the gold medal with my sled hockey teammates at the 2014 Winter Paralympic Games, I decided to take some time off to continue my education as a fulltime student. I transferred from the University of Incarnate Word to the University of Texas (UT) in the spring 2015 to major in Sport Management. Despite my time off from the national sled hockey team, I am actively involved with many adaptive sports such as wheelchair basketball, amputee cycling, adaptive golf and CrossFit. I currently play and coach on the San Antonio Rampage Sled Hockey team and a local travel hockey club (which is a mixture of wounded, disabled veterans and residents with disabilities). I am also on the 2016-2017 U.S. National Development Sled Hockey Team and am hopeful to earn a spot to compete and represent our country at the 2018 Winter Paralympic Games in South Korea. If I am not training on the ice, you can find me at CrossFit Central in downtown Austin, executing one leg box jumps, heavy dead lifts and muscle ups. As I strive to convey awareness, I have been featured in three documentaries and one competitive sports show. UT directed, "Handicapable," PBS produced "Ice Warriors," the story behind my sled hockey team's pursuit of gold in Sochi, Russia, CBS Sports filmed, "Courage in Sports" and in 2015 the competitive sports show "Triumph Games." Most recently, I assisted with UT's Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD), in its first wheelchair basketball clinic, bringing adaptive sports awareness to campus.
One day, I will bring adaptive sports awareness back to my native country of Taiwan. My goal is to start a winter Paralympic sport like sled hockey and remove the social stigma associated with disabilities in Taiwan. To change their understanding and acknowledge, "We are handicapable, not handicapped."
My name is Jen Yung Lee; I was born in Taipei, Taiwan, but immigrated to the United States with my family when I was 8 years old. We moved to San Francisco, CA, where I graduated from Westmoor High School in 2004, however after witnessing the terrors of September 11, 2001, I understood the need and wanted to serve our great country. That day instilled an unquenchable conviction in me, as a desire to protect, thus immediately upon graduation I joined the military and accepted a career as a helicopter mechanic. I had an opportunity to fulfill my conviction in 2006 during a one-year deployment to a combat zone in Iraq. I returned to Hawaii, having earned the rank of Sergeant (E5) during the deployment. In March 2009, while stationed in Savannah, Georgia, I was involved in a motorcycle accident, which resulted in an above the left knee amputation one month later. During my strenuous rehab, at the Brooke Army Medical Center in Fort Sam Houston, Texas, I was introduced to sled hockey through Operation Comfort (a nonprofit group providing rehabilitative and therapeutic programs for wounded vets). Little did I know that this introduction, would eventually lead me to the loftiest opportunity of my athletic career. To defend a net atop a frozen pond and display my lightning-quick reflexes, as a goaltender for the 2014 U.S. Paralympic Sled Hockey Team in Sochi, Russia. After serving in the United States Army for 10 years, I was medically retired with the rank of staff sergeant in 2015.
After winning the gold medal with my sled hockey teammates at the 2014 Winter Paralympic Games, I decided to take some time off to continue my education as a fulltime student. I transferred from the University of Incarnate Word to the University of Texas (UT) in the spring 2015 to major in Sport Management. Despite my time off from the national sled hockey team, I am actively involved with many adaptive sports such as wheelchair basketball, amputee cycling, adaptive golf and CrossFit. I currently play and coach on the San Antonio Rampage Sled Hockey team and a local travel hockey club (which is a mixture of wounded, disabled veterans and residents with disabilities). I am also on the 2016-2017 U.S. National Development Sled Hockey Team and am hopeful to earn a spot to compete and represent our country at the 2018 Winter Paralympic Games in South Korea. If I am not training on the ice, you can find me at CrossFit Central in downtown Austin, executing one leg box jumps, heavy dead lifts and muscle ups. As I strive to convey awareness, I have been featured in three documentaries and one competitive sports show. UT directed, "Handicapable," PBS produced "Ice Warriors," the story behind my sled hockey team's pursuit of gold in Sochi, Russia, CBS Sports filmed, "Courage in Sports" and in 2015 the competitive sports show "Triumph Games." Most recently, I assisted with UT's Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD), in its first wheelchair basketball clinic, bringing adaptive sports awareness to campus.
One day, I will bring adaptive sports awareness back to my native country of Taiwan. My goal is to start a winter Paralympic sport like sled hockey and remove the social stigma associated with disabilities in Taiwan. To change their understanding and acknowledge, "We are handicapable, not handicapped."
