Army Vet Uses Tragedy to Complete Walt Disney World 5K

Army Vet Uses Tragedy to Complete Walt Disney World 5K

There are so many heartwarming stories about people participating in the runDisney races.  Take Eric Donoho for example.  He completed the Walt Disney World 5K last weekend and his story is truly an inspiration to us all.

Eric is a United States Army veteran.  He served just over 4 years and, like so many, was deployed to Iraq.  During the war, he was hit by 3 bombs, severely wounding him.  The injuries he sustained included head, neck and brain injuries.  Also, during this time, his wife had a miscarriage, the first of several.   Once he returned home, not only did he lose two military friends to suicide but his wife was also diagnosed with cancer.

All of these things combined could easily break a person, however, he began to run.  Running has been credited with saving his life.  The Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA) is a veterans advocacy and support organization which is funded by a Cigna Foundation grant.  It was these programs that have helped him overcome his obstacles through running and has propelled him as an inspiration to all who are facing similar challenges.


Eric Donoho is an advocate of taking adversity and using it as a force to propel forward. Today, he and his wife have 2 healthy children.  One of the reasons that he ran the Walt Disney World 5K last week was to inspire his kids and show determination in overcoming obstacles.  This sounds so similar to Dory’s message of “just keep swimming”. So, like Eric (and Dory), make sure that you are always moving forward!

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Source: Disney Parks Blog

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