![]() ![]() ![]() Schick said the inspiration to launch 22Kill grew from being "sick and tired of going to funerals." He relied on medication to numb the mental trauma and pain, before finally seeking help for his dependencies as well as his post-traumatic stress, which he eventually learned to be a normal response to an abnormal situation. "Physical pain reminds you you're alive, but mental pain will test your will to stay alive." "It was very difficult to go from one of the world's most elite gladiators, to not being able to use the bathroom on my own. And though Schick was grateful to be alive, he didn't know what to do with the life that was saved. His recovery process required 18 months, more than 50 operations and 20 blood transfusions. He suffered damage to the left leg and arm, as well as internal injuries. It was my last way to let them know, to show them I loved them and how much they meant to me and helped mold me into the man I am. "I knew that was my last act as a combat Marine, and those guys are my family in every sense of the word. "Once I got hit and did my self-assessment, I knew I was hurt bad," Schick said. His prayer, while laying bloodied and shattered, wasn't for his life, but only that his fellow Marines wouldn't have to watch him die. As they patrolled the Sunni Triangle near Baghdad, Schick's tank hit an explosive device, and he was thrown through the roof. "It was in my family lineage to be a war fighter," he said. Schick knew the country was headed to war, and he volunteered for infantry. His boot camp orders came earlier than expected following the terrorist attacks on Sept. Schick wanted her to speak of him with the same admiration, and he enlisted to become a third-generation Marine at the beginning of his senior year in high school. He fondly recalls his grandmother talking with pride about his grandfather, a World War II veteran and Marine infantryman. The responsibility of the uniform appealed to Schick at a young age. ![]() The humans we deal with just happened to have worn a uniform at one time or another," Schick said. Schick is the CEO of 22Kill, a non-profit organization focused on suicide awareness and prevention by providing mental wellness programs and therapies to veterans, first responders and their families. "You can't fix a problem until you realize there's a problem." "It affected all of us as veterans, because we knew it was an issue, but knowledge is only power when it's shared," Schick said. The challenge of 22 pushups a day, for 22 days, drove attention to the 2012 Veterans Affairs study which concluded that 22 veterans die on average every day by suicide. In 2013, he guided the initiation of a social media campaign that went viral. He wanted to be a Marine.īut it was a classic military workout that actually provided Schick the means to awaken people's hearts and minds to change. Jacob Schick knew when he was 8 years old he wanted to make the world a better place. ![]()
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