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Military

Quadruple Amputee Inspires Boston Marathon Blast Survivor (Video)

Army Staff Sgt. Travis Mills and J.P. Norden
Department of Defense
Army Staff Sgt. Travis Mills and J.P. Norden

Quadruple amputee Staff Sgt. Travis Mills, who lost all four limbs in an April 2012 IED blast in Afghanistan, gave advice to J.P. Norden - Boston Marathon bomb blast survivor - as Norden visited Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on Wednesday.

Norden lost a leg in the Boston bombing. Norden's civilian surgeon, Dr. E. J. Caterson, told American Forces Press Service he hoped fellow amputees like Mills wound inspire his patient:

“I wanted J.P. to see his peers around him who have gone through the same thing as he did, and I want him to see the incredible energy this place has, the incredible expertise and the motivation to say, ‘Let’s get better.'"

The Wednesday get-together was actually the second meeting between Mills and Norden. Immediately after the Boston Marathon bombings, Mills and some fellow amputees traveled to Boston to meet with the injured who'd lost limbs in the attack.

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Mills told AFPS:

“We worked out with them and pushed them. We told them, ‘Hey man, there’s life after amputation.’”

Mills is one of only five quadruple amputees to survive the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

Just a few weeks ago, Fox News did a feature on Travis to show how much progress he's made in the year since losing his limbs. Check out the video below: