Rob Jones
On July 22nd 2010, Sergeant Rob Jones lost his legs when struck by an IED serving his country in Afghanistan.
His full story is here and is something you need to watch.
I was fortunate enough to meet Rob because of our “Salvation” project. We began exchanging emails but it wasn’t until he attended our location in December 2011 that I learned his full story. He had asked to come to the gym to get some help with the conditioning portion of his rowing program so we invited him to work with us. His goal was to qualify for the 2012 Paralympics in Rowing.
When I met Rob I was overwhelmed with his attitude and his will to succeed. He is as hard a working man as I have met and in my eyes he is a living example of the type of person that Gym Jones was created for in the first place. During his time here I was fortunate enough to create a friendship with and I’ve been fortunate enough to maintain that friendship with him ever since.
Since he left the gym to go pursue his goal I have tried my best to help him by writing his conditioning programming. To be honest it has been a nerve wracking experience. If you met Rob and knew how passionate he was you’d immediately know how important this rowing goal of his was. Because of this I wanted to make sure that every single session in his program was ‘perfect’. I’d also never worked with an athlete in his situation or his specific sport (adaptive rowing). All that said he made working with him easy. He never once complained or missed a session regardless of what I threw at him. He simply put his head down and got to work and did every single thing required of him. He is one of the most committed athletes I have ever had the privilege of working with.
Just this weekend he won the Mixed Double Sculls Truck & Arm in the 2012 World Rowing Cup in Belgrade with his partner Oksana Masters. Here is the full story. By winning he has achieved his goal and qualified for the 2012 Paralympics.
Today we spoke on the phone and he thanked me for helping him achieve his goal. To be clear Rob Jones never needs to thank me for a single thing. In fact it is quite the opposite. I should be thanking him for allowing me the opportunity to work with him. I should be thanking him for trusting me and for trusting our small project enough to work with us and to visit us. I should be thanking him for allowing me the privilege and honour of calling him my friend. I should be thanking him for reminding me what true dedication, perseverance, and sacrifice look life.
Thank you my friend.
