Carson Shaw had one fear when he was in the hospital recovering from a car accident that left him a T11 paraplegic.
"I've never wanted to be motionless or stay idle," he said. "For me, laying in a hospital bed for the first time probably ever in my entire life, forced to sit still. That takes its toll on anybody."
The accident happened Oct. 7 of last year, but a mere eight months later, being motionless and idle is likely the furthest thing from Shaw's mind.
Shaw, a sergeant in the Army[1]'s 1st Ranger Battalion in Savannah, Ga., will compete in six competitions in the Department of Defense Warrior Games at Colorado College.
Featuring nearly 200 wounded, ill and injured warrior athletes in teams from the Army, Air Force[2], Marines, Navy[3] and special operations[4] command (SOCOM), the games are a series of 11 adaptive sports played over nine days of competition.
The Warrior Games, which will run through July 26, began in Colorado Springs in 2010 with the mission of highlighting the physical skill and resilience of military service members. The games were held locally until 2014. This upcoming week marks the first time the games are back in town since 2018.
Following the powerlifting event on Friday, the games officially kicked off in the evening with comedian Jon Stewart hosting the opening ceremony at CC's Ed Robson Arena.
Stewart, who has hosted the event several times in the past, brought his usual charisma as he cracked jokes about the recent scandal at a Coldplay concert, recalled the time he threw up after jumping out of a plane at a previous edition of the games, and even gave the audience a short drum solo following a live band.
But what stood out most of all was Stewart's respect for the warriors.
"The human capital in this room is something this country needs desperately," he said to the crowd.
The athletes have that capital in part because of the families who support them.
Shaw's girlfriend Annalisa Saljanin was the first person to hear about the accident. When she confirmed Shaw was at the hospital, her father drove her from New Jersey to Georgia.
"It's definitely hard to hear the person you love in pain and hurting," she said. "Just walking in the room Carson already had a smile on his face. He's been so strong through everything and just knowing that he was able to still be happy and smiling so soon after his accident just gave me that piece of mind that everything was going to be okay."
Saljanin has been there for every step of her boyfriend's journey, and thanks to the Fisher House Foundation, she was able to accompany him to Colorado Springs.
Fisher House, which has built 99 comfort homes where military and veteran families can stay free of charge while a loved one is in the hospital, paid for the trips of all the family members who support the athletes. Flight, food and hotels are included.
"Just being out here ... allowing me to come out here and be with him throughout this entire process has been amazing," Saljanin said. "I've been with him for training here this past week and they allowed me to hop on a cycle and just go around with him. And being able to bond over things like that has been really amazing."
For his first Warrior Games, Shaw will compete for team SOCOM in wheelchair basketball, wheelchair rugby, precision air shooting, hand cycling, discus and race chair.
His favorite event is wheelchair basketball as he enjoys being around a team of people who love to compete. Shaw embodies the mindset of the theme of this year's games, "Limitless."
"Being around like-minded people that are all dealing with some form of either injury or disability and they're not letting that stop them," Shaw said. "And competing against people in the same category against people that we all are on the same page, we're out of the same book."
"When I was in the hospital and you're laying in bed you can't do anything for a couple of months, that's what got me through recovery was knowing that on the other side, I had Warrior Games to train up for, to compete in."
© 2025 The Gazette (Colorado Springs, Colo.).
Visit www.gazette.com[5].
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.[6]
© Copyright 2025 The Gazette (Colorado Springs, Colo.). All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.