An Army veteran shared his heroic story of his battle against depression and suicidal thoughts and how his Faith in God pulled him out of that dark spiral and gave his life new meaning. JP Lane is a recipient of the Purple Heart after sustaining serious wounds in Afghanistan while deployed in 2010.
Lane spoke to Fox News about his story and the harrowing battle that he fought against himself once he returned to American soil. In 2011, Lane’s truck ran over an IED, or improvised explosive device, that blasted through the floor of the vehicle and changed his life forever.
Describing his wounds, Lane said, “when it went through my vehicle, it actually amputated both of my legs, snapped my left femur in half, my pelvis snapped in half, dislocated my spine and my pelvis, and my right arm snapped in half 90 degrees.” He continued, saying, “Everything inside my torso was destroyed except for my heart and my left lung.”
These injuries, especially the loss of his legs, led Lane to wonder if life was worth living anymore. The questions are natural for someone like Lane, who lived life on his feet as a soldier and an active man away from work. He noted that finding the direction that the next phase of his life would take became an excruciation thought exercise anytime it crept into his mind.
He recounted, “I didn’t know what was next. It was very difficult to wake up and to see that I no longer would be able to enjoy the things that I used to be able to do, like play drums, run, wakeboard or snowboard — you name it.”
Lane would go on to attempt to commit suicide 12 times before help finally reached him and stopped his painful spiral of hopelessness. He says that the change came when he allowed himself to cling to his Faith and trust God to pull him through the tough times.
Lane said, “I had to reach out and rely on something stronger than myself, which is why I went back to my faith in God, [which gave] me the strength to get through it all, allowing me to have real joy in the darkest moments of my life.”
Lane made it clear in the interview that he did not win this battle alone, saying, “I didn’t do this by myself.” Now, thanks to his strong belief in God, Lane is living a happy life with his wife. He still remembers, however, that he has God to thank for that life. He says, “I turned to God, and I was like, ‘Hey, I’m done with this. It’s your turn to handle it.'”
He and his wife have now dedicated their life to spreading the word of God and the remarkable effect that it had on his mental health and that of the many others that he personally knows have been touched by the Holy Spirit. “My wife and I know that this is a very dark world that we live in,” he said. “And we just want to continue to be the light in a very dark situation,” He concluded.
The featured image is a screenshot from an embedded YouTube video.
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