Iraq War veteran and burn survivor J.R. Martinez has danced his way into the next round of Dancing with the Stars.
While being dumped by George Clooney or having an on-camera wardrobe malfunction may be the biggest difficulties other DWTS contestants will have to endure in life, Martinez has had to survive disfiguring injuries he sustained after his Humvee hit a land mine in Iraq and caught fire.
Martinez told Soldiers magazine he basically burned alive while trapped in the blazing Humvee for at least 15 minutes:
"You know how you burn yourself on an iron or stove and how painful that is, or maybe a sunburn, and the pain is just excruciating? This was just on-another-world, on-another-universe-painful. It was just so far beyond what I had ever known and what I've ever experienced that there's no way to explain it. It's an unbearable pain."
Martinez suffered third-degree burns on 40 percent of his body. He endured 33 surgeries on the road to recover. He now travels the country as a motivational speaker, and has even acted on the soap opera "All My Children."
Courtesy of ABC, here's Martinez showing incredible grace and sensuality during his debut dance on DWTS:
