US veteran who lost three limbs in Afghanistan now surfs, and asks: what was it for?

On 3 March 2012, José Martínez took five steps toward a wounded comrade in Afghanistan. On the fifth, the ground exploded. Today, at 38, he is a world adaptive surfing champion who wants to use his story to help others.

What happened?

Martínez, born in Compton (US) with family roots in El Salvador, joined the army after watching the 11 September 2001 attacks on TV with his mother. Years later, in Operation Enduring Freedom (the US-led war in Afghanistan), he stepped on an explosive device while walking in the footsteps of a wounded friend.

He says he was conscious the whole time. A lung collapsed and his side was open. He asked his comrades to leave him and rescue the other soldier instead. His unit got him out by helicopter, and he says he died "three times" on the way.

Ten days later he woke up in a hospital back in the US, with his parents beside him. His army "brothers", who thought he was dead, flooded his phone with messages. He lost three limbs. Today he walks with two prostheses and cannot use his right arm.

How did he get back on his feet?

Recovery was not only physical. Martínez fell into addiction to pills and alcohol, which he took, he says, to "forget everything" and to cope with the pain. Getting clean, he explains, helped him take a second chance.

Then a friend asked a simple question: "Do you want to surf?" He had to learn to swim again with his new body and prove he could cover several kilometres. In 2021 he became adaptive surfing world champion. Last March he won gold at an international skiing championship.

Why is he asking "what was it for?"

Speaking at the International Reconstruction Forum in Lorca, in southern Spain, Martínez said he went to Afghanistan to help civilians and to support women's rights. After the withdrawal, he says, many veterans wonder: "What did we go for?"

His message is simple: people should stop accepting war as normal. He also says you don't need to be a soldier to help others without asking for anything back.

What's next?

Martínez, co-founder of the association Four Season Fighters, will travel next to Ukraine. He hopes to help and inspire soldiers who, like him, have lost limbs in the war with Russia. As for his own pain, he says it will always be there, even if nobody sees it.