Army veteran Noah Galloway inspires with new life

Noah Galloway

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Noah Galloway, Dancing With the Stars finalist and Iraq war vet double amputee, was featured speaker at Help Hotline Crisis Center dinner.

By WILLIAM K. ALCORN

alcorn@vindy.com

POLAND

Retired Army Sgt. Noah Galloway’s oldest son was 4 months old when the Operation Iraqi Freedom veteran lost his left arm above the elbow and his left leg above the knee to an improvised explosive device while on a mission in 2005 in Iraq.

Galloway was unconscious for six days after the armored Humvee he was driving hit a tripwire that detonated the roadside bomb that threw his vehicle through the air.

He came to in Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., unclear what had happened to him.

His oldest son was 5 before Galloway, who was the featured speaker at Help Hotline Crisis Center’s annual benefit dinner Thursday at The Lake Club, began to crawl out of the depression, denial and alcoholism into which he had fallen during his recovery and rehabilitation.

Inspired by his children, who are now 7, 9 and 12, Galloway regained his mental and physical fitness and has become an author, motivational speaker, personal and fitness trainer, and famously finished third in Season 20 of the popular television competition show “Dancing with the Stars.”

The Purple Heart recipient served in the 1st Battalion, 502nd Infantry of the Army’s 101st Airborne Division.

Speaking during a news conference before the banquet, Galloway handled himself as smoothly and down-to-earth as he did on the “Dancing with the Stars” dance floor.

He said he left college and enlisted in the Army immediately after Sept. 11, 2001. After completing his first deployment to Iraq in 2003, he re-enlisted and completed his second deployment to Iraq in 2005.

Galloway said he shares the story of his journey out of depression and denial to motivate other people and to demonstrate the huge impact medical and mental health professionals can make on people. He said all his care has been through the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Galloway, who admitted he had never seen “Dancing with the Stars” before being contacted by the show, said he told them he did not want to be a contestant. But, when the show said it would send his dancing partner to his hometown of Alabaster, Ala., he acquiesced.

“I took it as a challenge, and when I began receiving a lot of positive feedback on social media saying I encouraged them, I was encouraged,” he said.

Also, he said the television show has given a bigger platform from which to share his story.

The Help Hotline benefit program also included a tribute to Galloway’s “Dancing with the Stars” by the Fred Astaire Dancers.

“We brought Noah here because his story fits what we do,” said Vince Brancaccio, Help Hotline chief executive director.

Help Hotline’s Crisis Center has been serving the greater Mahoning Valley since 1971.

The organization provides 24/7 crisis intervention, suicide prevention and intervention, referrals, support services and counseling services to people experiencing mental health-related and/or situational problems, Brancaccio said.

Help Hotline also provides many services each year to thousands of people in need of emergency and ongoing assistance, while referring and linking them to additional community resources and disseminating information about community human services to individuals and families who need it, he said.

For information about Help Hotline, visit HelpHotline.org.