Joe Cooler sees life as a blessing.
"Thank God for life! Thank God I have friends who support me," Cooler said.
Cooler worked seven years as an Inventory Management Specialist in the military before he landed his next venture in the Air Force.
"It was rough," Cooler said. "But if you were a disciplined child growing up, you'd know how to survive the military."
Cooler's love for adventure taught him to navigate different terrains. Skiing, hunting, kayaking, and horseback riding puts Cooler's four senses to good use.
After retiring from the Air Force in 1992, an accident changed Cooler's perspective on life.
"I went to the Bronx and got triage," Cooler said. "My nurse said, 'Joe, you've got to see the doctor because you can't see.'"
Cooler was diagnosed as legally blind.
It comes with obvious physical challenges, but Cooler found the mental challenges are even worse.
"The hardest part is acceptance," Cooler said. "I really cried and broke down, and I said to myself, why me?"
He found a glimmer of hope in gaining the courage to start anew.
"I had to get recertified on how to walk upstairs with a cane," Cooler said.
He now shares that faith with other disabled veterans and purpose in believing what he cannot see.
"I look at myself and other veterans who don't have arms and legs," Cooler said. "I don't complain anymore."
He teaches them the adaptive sports he says saved his life.
"They say they can't do it, I say, yes, you can. Yes, you can," Cooler said.
His fellow veteran now friend, Michael Fiddler, follows suit. Fiddler fights his own battle with multiple sclerosis.
"The symptoms that I have are kind of hidden because I look fine until I go to try to walk and I fall all over the place," Fiddler said.
Hand-cycling marathons put the wheels in motion toward a healthy outlet for Fiddler.
"I know I don't look it. My upper body doesn't look strong," Fiddler said, laughing. "But I loved it. I loved doing that."
Friends like Fiddler and his dog, Marla, motivate Cooler to keep his mission of helping other veterans alive.
"I see what they're going through and say, wow, we go through it together. We help each other. We don't leave nobody behind," Cooler said.
Cooler said his unwavering faith leads him to help his brothers in arms.
"I know with him, I can do anything," Cooler said.
In March 2025, Cooler will take a trip to Colorado with over 300 other disabled veterans who will learn to ski.
Fiddler says aside from hand-cycling he's found purpose in sharing his journey with multiple sclerosis through writing his online blog. You can find his blog here .