“It was a great opportunity for mentors and mentees to interact with each other, learn from each other, and to have fun just hanging out with each other,” Shaklee said.

Mentors were trained prior to the event at sessions presented by Partners for Youth with Disabilities, an organization committed to empowering young people with disabilities through programs that build skills for independent living and provide opportunities for community interaction. Wounded Warriors and representatives from UCO and eight other chapters attended the sessions in DS/USA’s headquarters in Rockville, Md.

“We were very interested in the mentoring program,” said Kelsey’s mother, Tammy, who noted the family has participated in the Endeavor Games for five years. “We’ve always tried to support what our military members have done for us, and now we also can offer support to them. The Wounded Warriors were once able-bodied. Now that they are experiencing disability, we can encourage them, too.”

Kelsey, of Allen, Texas, who has Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, a neurological disorder that causes muscle weakness and atrophy, and Eddings, who sustained injuries while serving in Iraq, are learning from each other. “Kelsey was born with her disability; while I’m new to this game,” Eddings said.

But Eddings brings to the table a wealth of information on how to excel at the challenges life offers. “I’ve achieved so much in my life, including a military career for 27 years,” he said. Eddings’ first assignment was to the 2/75th Infantry Ranger Battalion at Fort Lewis, Wash. He also served in anti-terrorism units and with the Federal Marshals Service for 15 years as an aircraft commander for the Convict Air program. He ended his career in the Combat Military Police Provo Marshall Tactic Operations. Among his awards are the Bronze Star with Valor Device and the Purple Heart.

“I enjoyed hearing the perspective of someone who was in the war,” Kelsey said. “I was able to really talk to him – what it’s like to be disabled and how his life has changed. For me, I don’t really remember how to run, but for the newly disabled, like the Wounded Warriors, they knew what it was like, so it’s harder for them.”

At the Endeavor Games, the young mentees were able to join their mentors onstage as the Wounded Warriors were introduced. “That was really special for me,” said Kelsey. She and Eddings also participated in hiking, basketball, and shooting. Kelsey additionally did track and field and swimming and won 13 gold medals throughout the event. At the closing ceremonies, Eddings presented Kelsey with the Endeavor Games Young Athlete of the Year award.

Eddings calls Kelsey his Battle Buddy, a reference to the concept that no one is left alone. “I’ve got her back and she’s got mine,” he said.

Eddings said his job is to motivate and support Kelsey. “Between the two of us, we’re a perfect team,” he said. “I made a promise to her that I will be there for her and continue supporting her through her career and even through the Paralympic Games.”

“Daryl has done a lot to mentor Kelsey,” said Mrs. Butler. “He’s very genuine. I don’t think there’s a bitter bone in his body. To be around him and hear his story is inspirational. He gives her a lot of encouragement and tells her not to give up. He says, ‘We can do this and do it together.’ Kelsey has made a new friend for life.”

Swimming in the Beijing Paralympics is an aspiration of Kelsey’s. “Attending the Paralympics Open in 2005 made me realize what the competition was,” she said. “And want to do that, that’s my goal. I’ve still got over a year to kick it into a different gear to be competitive. I need to train harder. But when I swim laps, there is a lot of stress on my shoulders, and my ankles.”

Kelsey is looking forward to competing in the Nationals in July and the Paralympic Open in December. She also will be back at the 2007 Endeavor Games June 7 – 10. “The Games are awesome,” she said.

Because Kelsey and Eddings both reside in the Dallas area, he is able to attend some of Kelsey’s events and their families also have met and become friends. “It’s not just us – our families support us,” he said. Eddings and his wife, Violet, have three children and three grandchildren. Besides her mother and father, Kelsey has a younger sister.

Eddings served in Operations Joint Endeavor and Iraqi Freedom II. As an Operation Sergeant Provo Marshall assigned in Kabala, Iraq, he was responsible for maintaining law and order for the city of 46,000, including overseeing both military and Iraqi police and the local prison, where he received his injuries fighting in hand-to-hand combat. He sustained nerve damage to his right arm, rendering it unusable. He has been told it will be amputated at some point. The nerve damage has spread to his other arm and the right side of his face. Eddings also suffered a dislocated jaw and had hip replacement surgery. “The pain,” he says, “never goes away.”

When he became injured, Eddings saw life from the other side. Although he had excellent medical care and frequent visits from his family, he felt alone and without friends who could understand what he went through. While recovering at Brooke Army Medical Center, he thought of developing a program that would help injured soldiers as they transitioned from the battlefield to stateside recovery programs. Called Operation Battle Buddy™, it pairs up wounded military personnel with a volunteer who can help them understand everything from required paperwork to services available to them and their families.

“Through the Battle Buddy project, the Wounded Warrior Project, and Disabled Sports USA, we can tell them (military personnel) that their lives are not over; we’ve only just begun,” Eddings said.

“My life is now dedicated to mentoring young and old coming out of the military and I can do that through Operation Battle Buddy and as a mentor with the Wounded Warrior Disabled Sports Project.”

The DS/USA Youth Sports Mentoring Program is made possible by grants issued by the Mitsubishi Electric America Foundation (MEAF), the Daniels Fund, the Million Dollar Round Table, and the Christopher Reeve Foundation. DS/USA has also partnered with Partners for Youth with Disabilities (PYD), another MEAF grantee, to develop the mentor training curriculum.