Hockey helping Army veteran Krist Francisco thrive and inspire
MINNEAPOLIS – Krist Francisco was serving in Afghanistan in 2010, when a 500-pound IED ended his career in the Army.
"Traumatic brain injury, a heart condition from losing so much blood too fast, it damaged some sensor in my heart. And then the bigger, more visual thing was I had a femur fracture that was just above my knee, and then came out just below my knees," Francisco said.
What followed was months of physical rehab, and a diagnosis of depression and PTSD.
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"Adding tiny little things every once and a while that you're not ready to process can really throw a wrench in your system, your routine," he said.
When he finally returned home to Minnesota he found a therapy: joining a hockey team filled with veterans. It helped fill a void.
"Hockey's been a camaraderie base that you miss once you're out of the military, and just that togetherness of like-minded individuals playing a sport that you love," he said.
He and some colleagues have taken that love to a part-time vocation. They put together a version of military boot camps for hockey teams before a season to set the tone.
"There's a lot of attention to detail," he said. "If they forget their water, they're in trouble. They have to bring their sticks around with them everywhere they go. If they lay it on the ground when they're not supposed to, they're in trouble, things like that," he said.
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The Fourth of July is a reminder for him. Some of it, like fireworks, can literally affect his PTSD.
"Fireworks for a long time got me going pretty good, where you freaked out," he said.
So his life is still complex, but he is dealing with it. And his love for hockey has helped the healing.
"Just keep pushing on and keep finding the good in life," he said. "A lot of people, they don't end up finding it, and their inner demons from the military take over."
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