By MaryTherese GriffinDecember 19, 2024
FALLS CHURCH Va.- When Corporal Tiffanie Johnson learned she had Multiple Sclerosis after six years of active-duty service in the Army, her life changed forever. She saw her service in the Army ending, and life as she knew it would be over. That is until she went to the Soldier Recovery Unit at Walter Reed and discovered adaptive sports. “I never dreamed of doing adaptive sports. I didn’t know anything about it until I was in the SRU, and even then, in the very beginning, I didn’t want to do it because I didn’t understand what it was about. At the time it was offered to me, I was depressed over my diagnosis, so I was closed-minded about it for a bit.”
Johnson admits it took some coaxing, but she finally saw a way to deal with the daily unexpected demands of having MS while being active in adaptive sports. “I am very glad I participated in adaptive sports. It really opened my mind and my perspective on my way forward. I knew I could live with my new diagnosis with the help of adaptive sports.”
The physical attacks on her body were now being worked on, as well as the mental and emotional space MS was taking up in her brain. Johnson worked hard at the SRU to recover and overcome the dark place she was in, and she gives credit to adaptive sports. “I am happy to say I am not in that state anymore. I could try many new things, for example….like air rifle, which I learned was a hidden talent I didn’t know I had!”
She played volleyball in high school and marveled at the new adaptive way she could do it on the floor. “Seated volleyball was amazing. When I lost my mobility in my lower extremities, I thought, there’s no cure, and I will never be able to play volleyball again. Playing seated volleyball was amazing – I learned how to move again differently. I learned to love the sport all over again, just in a different way.”
Her career in adaptive sports blossomed, and Johnson competed at the Warrior Games for Team Army and for Team U.S. at the Invictus games in Germany. She competed in air rifle, cycling, sitting volleyball, and swimming. It wasn’t easy, but Johnson embraced the opportunities. “The hardest sport for me was swimming. I fatigue very fast in my lower extremities. We discovered that my left arm is also affected by my diagnosis. So, I have three limbs that fight me when I swim. I have learned as well in that sport to adapt, and I am able to do it.”
Life is better for Johnson, who says she can do more things. “I am in school full time, and I work part-time. I struggle with brain fog, but I don’t let that stop me as I am taking a level five language, Chinese, in school. My diagnosis has been very stable. My medical team keeps me ready for anything.”
Being ready for anything is a daily joy for Johnson, who testifies that she wouldn’t be where she is without adaptive sports. “Adaptive sports have been a gift in more ways than one. I was able to regain my confidence. I was able to reconnect with myself and others around me in my community in a different way. I struggled with that loss of feeling a part of the military, but adaptive sports at the SRU helped me feel like I repurposed myself and my mindset to be part of the Army, and I still have a feeling of belonging with my comrades.”
If she could share one message about the importance of adaptive sports for a wounded, ill, or injured Soldier, Johnson would take Soldiers back to the very beginning of their service. “You came into the Army with confidence, wanting to be the best Soldier you can be, but then something happens, and you lose it temporarily. Adaptive sports regifted that confidence back to me .”
“Adaptive sports regifted confidence to me.” ~ Tiffanie Johnson
“Adaptive sports regifted confidence to me.” ~ Tiffanie Johnson
2022 Warrior Games
