In the year since Sgt. Travis Mills lost all four limbs, this unstoppable vet has learned to walk and has become the unofficial “mayor” of Walter Reed Medical Center.


While on patrol last April in Afghanistan, Mills was critically injured by an IED and lost portions of his arms and legs, adding him to a group of just five quadruple amputees of the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars to survive such injuries. At first, Mills had trouble looking in the mirror because he felt like he had “nothing left,” he told Fox News in a recent interview. But the resilient fighter has come a long way since he first arrived at Walter Reed.


Now, the determined husband and dad ambles around confidently with his prosthetics, undergoes physical and occupational therapies and, in his spare time, encourages other injured vets not to lose hope, which is the primary reason he was dubbed the “mayor” of the rehabilitation facility.


“He walks in [to patients’ rooms] with his four prosthetics on, a smile on his face and says, “You’re going to be OK,” Kerry Quinn, a physical therapist at Walter Reed, told Fox News.


In addition to his nightly visits to injured vets at Walter Reed, Mills also helps other wounded warriors recover at an adventure camp in Maine through the Travis Mills Project. The goal is to challenge the vets to realize just how much they’re capable of doing and to invite them to share their experiences with one another.


“Who am I to sit around and be sad because I had the opportunities I had?" Mills told Fox News. “Luckily battlefield medicine has come so far…I can watch my daughter grow up, I can hang out with my wife and we can plan our dreams.”


Also on HuffPost:






  • Staff Sgt. Travis Mills lost all four limbs to an Improvised Explosive Device while serving in Afghanistan last April. Since then, he's learned to walk with his prosthetics, undergoes physical and occupational therapies at Walter Reed Medical Center and encourages other wounded vets not to give up.




  • Staff Sgt. Travis Mills lost all four limbs to an Improvised Explosive Device while serving in Afghanistan last April. Since then, he's learned to walk with his prosthetics, undergoes physical and occupational therapies at Walter Reed Medical Center and encourages other wounded vets not to give up.




  • Staff Sgt. Travis Mills lost all four limbs to an Improvised Explosive Device while serving in Afghanistan last April. Since then, he's learned to walk with his prosthetics, undergoes physical and occupational therapies at Walter Reed Medical Center and encourages other wounded vets not to give up.




  • Staff Sgt. Travis Mills lost all four limbs to an Improvised Explosive Device while serving in Afghanistan last April. Since then, he's learned to walk with his prosthetics, undergoes physical and occupational therapies at Walter Reed Medical Center and encourages other wounded vets not to give up.




  • Staff Sgt. Travis Mills lost all four limbs to an Improvised Explosive Device while serving in Afghanistan last April. Since then, he's learned to walk with his prosthetics, undergoes physical and occupational therapies at Walter Reed Medical Center and encourages other wounded vets not to give up.




  • Staff Sgt. Travis Mills lost all four limbs to an Improvised Explosive Device while serving in Afghanistan last April. Since then, he's learned to walk with his prosthetics, undergoes physical and occupational therapies at Walter Reed Medical Center and encourages other wounded vets not to give up.