Paralympian Freddie De Los Santos: “You Have To Find A Way To Bring Some Meaning To Your Life”
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This episode is brought to you by Honda. When you test drive the all-new Prologue EV, there's a lot that can impress you about it. There's the class-leading passenger space, the clean, thoughtful design, and the intuitive technology. But out of everything, what you'll really love most is that it's a Honda. Visit Honda.com slash EV to see offers. It's Live in the Bream with host of Fox News at Night, Shannon Bream. This week's Live in the Bream has got an Olympic-themed

theme. It just feels like the right time as we celebrate our athletes who are going to competition. We've got a very, very special guest today. Freddy De Los Santos is with us and he is not only a Paralympian, but he is a true hero in every sense of the word as we see it here in America. He is somebody who after the attacks on the World Trade Center on 9-11 joined the U.S. Army and that is where we're going to pick up his story. Freddy, thank you so much for being with us on Live in the Bream.

Thank you for having me. So tell us about your motivation at that critical moment in history. I'll tell you what, it's hard to believe that 10, 11 years ago, I was going through the worst time of my life. And today, I'm getting ready to go to Tokyo. I was in Afghanistan in 2008. And that's when I got hit with an RPG. Right after that, I was at work to be hospitalized for two years where

I had to learn how to walk, how to talk. Pretty much, I had to learn how to do everything all over again. I lost my leg. Yeah, and you had gone selflessly. I mean, you had said, I want to do this. I want to defend my country. I want to defend freedom. And you made a choice to go walking into knowing that you could end up in the ultimate sacrifice and walking through these really tough realities that you faced.

I'll tell you why it was an honor to go and put my life on the line for the country. If I had to do everything all over again, I would do it again, no doubt in my mind. Unfortunately, you know, things happen. I got wounded. My unit, they want me to stay in, but most likely I was going to be sent to the schoolhouse or when I was in the hospital,

That's when I found out that they had a Paralympic program for military. And that's when I picked it up, what I'm doing today. Let me ask you about your time in the hospital because you say two years in recovering, losing your leg, devastating injuries.

And it's something clearly that's part of your story and that you've lived through. But what is the reality like for somebody to live in a hospital for two years, fighting to put your body back together, to think about what your life is going to be moving forward and just sort of your new reality? Yeah, for the first couple of months, I think the worst part about the whole thing was recovery, the recovery process. I was very suicidal.

uh i didn't know what to do i mean i had such a perfect life and all of a sudden everything was taken away from me you know my passions you know to serve the country being in the military my friends my brothers in arms you know like everything changed for me and uh so my i had to move my family from north carolina to washington dc so they could be there with me so when i was in a hospital

Like I mentioned before, I was very suicidal. I had TBI, I had mental trauma, physical trauma, I had memory loss, dental trauma. I mean, you name it, I had everything. Then on top of that, I had to go through multiple surgeries.

And it was not easy. It was not easy. It took me, like I said, two years to be able to put myself together. And of course, this is not something that you can do it by yourself. You need not just the military community, but also your family, your friends. And like...

uh, simplify phone, you know, they were there for me to help me out. Yeah. Let's talk about them. Um, because you work with this non-profit, non-profit group, Semper Fi fund, and, um, they do all kinds of special things trying to help our men and women who have made enormous sacrifices. And so I don't forget in case people want to know it's the fund.org Semper Fi and America's fund. It's the fund.org. Tell us what they brought into your life in that really difficult time is, um, you were working through recovery. Yeah.

You know, when I was going through my recovery process, I was struggling a lot because I was very suicidal. So I started doing hand cycling when I was in the hospital. And through Simplify Phone, I was able to get the equipment that I need so I can be physically active. But there was another part of the equation that I was missing, and it was the mental trauma. Because

I had a lot of anger in me and there was a lot of things that I wanted to communicate with people, but I don't know how to say it. I didn't want my family to know what I was going through. And I just didn't know how to tell them how I was feeling inside. So before I joined the military, I used to work as a graphic designer. I did that for seven years. Art is something that has always been in my life.

So, so I started doing paintings and, uh, but I didn't have the resources, you know, the tools that you need are very, very expensive, like painting brushes and stuff like that. So SimplifyFoam was able to help me out with that. And through art, I was able to express myself and to get rid of that anger that I had inside or the trauma or the insecurity, uh,

everything that was kind of like holding me back mentally, I was able to put it in the painting. And I'll tell you why it was a blessing because through my painting, my friends, my family and that community was able to see what I was going through. And, uh,

Yeah. And just the arts, whatever our emotions are, strong emotions, negative, positive emotions, whatever they are to process them. The arts have been seen by a lot of folks as such a gift to, as you said, not only to take them sort of off of your chest, but to be able to connect with people to sort of articulate everything you've been feeling and going through. And I'm sure a process, it's very difficult for somebody who has not been

in your life, in your circumstances to understand just how difficult every step of that was. Yeah. You know, a lot of people to see me, they were like, you know, cause I was doing the physical part. Hey, why are you doing so well? I see you in your hand cycle. So you're doing swimming. You know, the physical part was the easy part because it was something that, that I was able to dominate pretty well. But then the mental trauma was something that it was,

It's kind of hard for me to explain, but I feel like I had a demon inside of me and I couldn't get rid of it. So by doing the painting and by decompressing internally, that was such a great feeling. And I'm still doing it. I mean, every day I still paint it.

So like you're a busy man. Yeah. Last year I throwed up and yeah, I, you know, I have severe PTSD. So whenever I feel like, like I'm not in the right place, that's my escape. That's my outlet. So I go from cycling, I jump into painting and I also do photography as well. So, and, and I, I,

I have been blessed because Simplified Fund always there to help me out. Say, look, we're here to help you out. If you need any tools, any materials, just let us know. Yeah. And we will take care of you. And it has been a blessing. And

And let me tell folks a little bit about them because they're an amazing organization. Semper Fi and America's Fund, they say they're dedicated to walking alongside our combat wounded, critically ill and injured service members, veterans and military families, providing vital needs-based financial and program support. They say today, tomorrow, and together. They say since their inception in 2004, they've given more than $260 million in assistance to more than 27,000 service members worldwide.

across all military branches. Again, it's thefund.org. If you want to help out or check it out, and maybe you're a veteran or you're somebody who knows someone who needs some assistance from Semper Fi and America's Fund. Meanwhile, today we're talking to someone who's very involved with the group, Freddy De Los Santos, who also happens to be a Paralympian who is representing the United States of America in Tokyo in the games. What does that mean to you, Freddy, to be able to put on that uniform and get out there and represent your country?

Oh my God. I'm so excited. I, I, it's hard for me to explain the feeling, you know, be able to, uh, to go out there, represent the country is, is, is an honor and it's a privilege. And, and I, I, I, I had no way to explain myself, the fit, you know, how I feel, uh, this is going to be my second Paralympic games. I, it's a big commitment, but, uh, but I, I love it. I love the challenge. And, uh,

I have been training really hard for four years. I've been training like a Johan maybe five, six hours a day, seven days a week. Sometimes I had to see, I got to go mental health because my mind is not in the right place from training and dealing with the family. And, you know, like, you know, I have besides cycling, but besides my art, you know, I also have a family. So yeah,

To be away from the family just because I need to train and I had to do the timing to qualify for Tokyo, it has been very overwhelming.

Yeah. It's an exhausting process that somebody who's not very athletic like me probably has a hard time understanding the grueling nature of what you go through, through this training. And like you said, I mean, our athletes are juggling families in real life, your past experiences, all kinds of different challenges. You're going to compete in late August and early September, so we can all watch and cheer for you. Tell us about your events.

Well, my event consists of three events. I had a time trial, which is a 24 K, uh, you race against the clock. Uh, then we have a road race, which is, uh, it's going to be 29, 79 K. And then we had a team relay and that's a four one. Cause that's, uh, it's a,

it's a team concept. It's going to be three of us and we go, we go out three times as fast as you can go. So, uh, it's, I'm excited. I'm excited. And I can't wait to race. What would be your advice to somebody who, um, is going through something tough about, um, being able to pour yourself into different activities and find some measure of healing through some of these other things that you've done, like art, like your athletics. Well, for me, I'll tell you, uh,

It has been the most rewarding experience, being able to compete despite my disability. And everybody's different. Life is not easy. It doesn't supposed to be easy. You have to find your passion. You have to find motivation in life so you can keep pushing forward. Through cycling, through my art, I have been able to see how far I can take my recovery.

I always say to people, yeah, you can't stand up, but you can stand out. You have to find your passion. What is it that you want to do with your life? Because, you know, I've seen a lot of people with no disabilities. I mean, apparently no disability. And when they talk to me, I'm like, okay, I know I'm missing a leg, but I know this person has something wrong with this person just because they don't function really well mentally.

And that's what life is all about. Life is all about pushing yourself, trying to see what motivates you. In my case... Yeah, get you up in the morning, keep you going. In my case, I mean, I still do the same thing that I used to do when I was back in my unit. I wake up at 4.30 in the morning. I have my breakfast. I jump on the bike.

I take a break, I jump on my painting, I do my photography, and I go back into the bike. And I do that very consistently every day, every day, every day. But you have to find the motivation. You have to find the passion. Life is never going to be easy. There's always going to be some kind of challenge in your life.

I'm that kind of person now that I love challenging. Sometimes I talk to my friends, oh, I had issues, but I give it to me. I love it. Because that's how you grow. That's how you grow as a person. When you're dealing with trauma, when you're dealing with situation, like the one that I'm going through, that's what makes you grow as a person. I always tell people, and it sounds kind of weird, but I always say, you know,

Being disabled has been a blessing in my life. I used to weigh 225 pounds. I weigh 149 pounds now. I'm in the best shape of my life. Uh,

It's just so ironic. I mean, to think that, and I think that's true that sometimes our hardest, worst challenges in life definitely grow us the most mature us, whether it's spiritually or emotionally. But the fact that you have taken this to grow mentally and physically as well is very, very inspiring. We'll have more live in the Bream in a moment.

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We are talking to Freddy De Los Santos, who is a Paralympian. He is a soldier who has served this country and he is an all around inspirational guy. I should just put your picture up. So when I jump out of bed, I can do some pushups. I can get going. Freddy's up at 430. He's out there getting it done. How do you keep going on the days when...

you're physically exhausted, maybe you're mentally exhausted and you look at what you've got in front of you with these training schedules, um, with your family, all the things that you're managing. Um, what is it that you say to yourself, uh, or what is it that keeps you going? I don't know. You know, I, I, I always feel like I had to do it for my friends, for those guys that didn't make it back. Uh, we lost a lot of guys and, uh,

My last deployment was really rough. So I always feel like I had to do it for them. But at the same time, you had, you know, my life hasn't changed. I still feel like I'm back in the unit. So the bike became a weapon. So I was working on my bike and I tried to pretty much do the same thing that I was doing when I was back in the unit. So that way I don't feel like I'm missing anything.

So I'm always traveling. I always training. So when I'm training, if I'm not training, I'm traveling. If I'm not traveling, I'm training. So I always kind of keep myself busy. I'm always racing. If I'm not racing, I'm training. So you have to find a way to bring some meaning to your life. It sounds like routine is very helpful for you too.

It is. It is. It's kind of weird because I live in upstate New York. And during the winter, it's like 18 degrees, 14 degrees. And I'm outside riding my bike. And as people pass by, they go like, are you okay? I'm like, yeah. But they don't understand what I'm doing. But I love it. I enjoy it. I like the pain. That pain is kind of hard for me to describe. But that pain...

has been a blessing in my life. And I love the pain because every time I go through pain,

it keeps me going forward. That's what keeps pushing me. Keep coming out stronger on the other side. And as you said, doing this for so many of your brothers who didn't come back, that's got to be a huge motivation as well. What would you say, Freddie, to people who will look at recovering servicemen and women who are home from combat, and maybe they do physically look whole or that they're doing good with the challenges that they have?

And on the outside, it looks like they're succeeding. They're holding it together. What would you say about being sensitive to the mental health and the other issues that maybe you can't see about people might still be struggling with? You had to be, you had to find a way to, to decompress. You had to find it. It's kind of, it's kind of hard to show weakness. Like you're weak, but you,

be able to express yourself and tell people how you feel, whether you don't feel, you don't feel well mentally, or you have to feel suicidal. It's okay to let people know that that's how you feel. And that's what I do. I, I, for many years, I was holding my, I was holding it to myself. Like, I didn't want to look weak. And if I'm answering your question, but I always, I always,

was afraid to let people know how I was feeling. And now I always tell people how I feel. And it's a good feeling. It's a good feeling because if you hold it to yourself, that's going to hurt you. It's going to make it worse. Much healthier. You have to find a way to free the pain. Let the pain leave your body. Because if you keep holding it to yourself, that's not going to be good.

Yeah. And if you're Freddie De La Santos, you exercise that out in a lot of ways, actual literal physical exercise. He's an artist and a photographer as well. Multi-talented and super inspiring. Again, let me tell you about Semper Fi and America's Fun, that Freddie is one of their success stories about connecting with them over art supplies and things that have helped him grow.

to do painting and to share his feelings on the canvas. But also this amazing athlete he's turned into as well, going to represent our country, the USA in Tokyo at the Paralympic games, the end of August, the beginning of September. If you don't have a favorite, now you have someone to cheer for a watch for Freddie as he is out there for team USA. Freddie, thank you so much for sharing some of your story with us. And we will be so excited to see you in Tokyo representing all of us.

No, thank you for giving me the opportunity to use this platform to express myself and to let people know that, you know, this community, Simplify Fund, is there to help you. You know, if you ever need some help, if you need somebody to help,

to take you under the wings, they're willing to do that because they did it for me. So I'm pretty sure they will do it for anybody else. Yeah, they've helped tens of thousands of veterans and combat wounded, their families, those who need help. You can find them at Semper Fi Fund.

on Twitter. Their website again is thefund.org. Doing amazing work and connecting with amazing people like Freddie. Freddie, I'm going to go get my Go Freddie t-shirts made now. We'll be cheering you on in Tokyo. Thanks for joining us on Live in the Brain. Thank you very much.

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