True Blu: Blugold alumnus shoots for Paralympic gold

Following graduation, Rose decided on one more six-year stint in the Army, this time as a combat engineer. He put his future on hold for a deployment to Afghanistan.

“My plan was to come back after that deployment and either try to get into grad school or find a job,” Rose says.

That’s where he was when his life changed forever on April 27, 2011.

The truck Rose was in was destroyed by an improvised explosive device hidden in a culvert. He and two of his fellow soldiers were wounded in the blast, with Rose suffering the most serious injuries, leaving him paralyzed from the chest down.

Now, 15 years after the injuries he received while serving his country, Rose will again represent his nation overseas, this time as a member of the 2026 U.S. Paralympic team competing in Milan and Cortina, Italy. Rose will compete in his first Paralympics as a member of the U.S. wheelchair curling team. 

“I’m just excited for all that,” Rose says. “Just the chance to compete on the highest stage there is for wheelchair curling. I'm excited to see how all my practice, preparation and training have paid off, and hopefully we can bring home some hardware.”

Rose began his curling career in 2019. It was one of many moves that helped him recover from what happened in Afghanistan.

The journey back

Rose refers to the explosion that caused his paralysis as his “early retirement option.”

“It was kind of a weird ride that I could never have planned for,” Rose says.

That ride began with being airlifted to Kandahar Air Base in Afghanistan, where his condition was stabilized. A flight back to the U.S. was next, followed by multiple spinal fusion surgeries at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C.

After that, it was on to James A. Hailey Veteran’s Administration Medical Center in Tampa, Florida, where Rose underwent months of physical therapy before heading home to his parents’ house in Tomah. He says that’s when things got tough.

“I just really felt like when I moved back, my entire world was just shrunk down,” Rose recalls. “I had a bed downstairs in the living room. I felt like I was the only person in a wheelchair. I didn't have independence. It was really kind of a dark period.”

But through the darkness, Rose was able to see some light on the horizon, thanks in large part to a recreational therapist back in Florida who had a plan Rose had all but forgotten about.

The path forward

Before leaving Florida, that therapist came into Rose’s room with a stack of papers, and a new directive for him.

“She basically came into my room and was like, ‘hey, you're going on a ski trip out in Colorado in December. It’s going to be awesome, and you're going to love it,’ Rose says. “And once I got home, I had kind of forgotten it. I didn't even think it was a possibility anymore.”

But three months after coming home to Tomah, the tickets arrived. At first, Rose wasn’t excited about the trip.

“I was trying to rationalize any way that I could get out of it,” Rose says. “I figured, I'm paraplegic; there's no way I'm going to be able to ski. What's the point of going out and trying?”

But he went. He met his sister in Denver, and the next thing he knew, he was on a mountain top, staring down a ski slope.

“I was like, all right, I'll do this, give it a shot,” Rose recalls. “And the instructors were amazing people. And right away, on the first day, I was pretty much skiing independently.”

That’s when the light on the horizon got brighter for Rose.

It was amazing,” he remembers. “It flipped a switch on in my brain, where it was like, if I can do this, what else is out there that I can do? I put a lot of my energy into trying different adaptive sports, giving everything a shot to see what works, what I enjoy.”

Rose, who was 26 and single when injured, says getting to know others in the wheelchair curling community helped him maneuver through some of the dark periods that happen while learning a new way to live life.

“They can give you direction,” Rose says. “I thought I was going to be single for the rest of my life. But I met guys who had met their wives after their injuries and have started families.”

Now, 15 years after being on top of that mountain in Colorado, Rose has reached another pinnacle, this one as a member of the U.S. Paralympic Wheelchair Curling Team. With competition just around the corner, Rose is ready to get on the ice, where his wife, daughter, sisters, in-laws and close friends will be on hand to cheer him on.

“I'm excited to see how all my practice, preparation and training have paid off,” Rose says. “And hopefully we can bring home some hardware.”

True Blu is a monthly series that spotlights UW-Eau Claire alumni.