Andrew Soule (born January 2, 1980) is an American Nordic skier and veteran of the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

. A double-leg amputee due to injuries received in the

War in Afghanistan War in Afghanistan, Afghan war, or Afghan civil war may refer to: *Conquest of Afghanistan by Alexander the Great (330 BC – 327 BC) * Muslim conquests of Afghanistan (637–709) *Conquest of Afghanistan by the Mongol Empire (13th century), see al ...

, Soule uses a

sit-ski Paralympic alpine skiing is an adaptation of alpine skiing for athletes with a disability. The sport evolved from the efforts of disabled veterans in Germany and Austria during and after the Second World War. The sport is governed by the Intern ...

in competitions.

Biography and career

A native of

Pearland, Texas Pearland ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, within Brazoria County, Texas, Brazoria County, with portions extending into Fort Bend County, Texas, Fort Bend and Harris County, Texas, Harris counties. The city of Pearland is a principal city ...

, Soule attended

Texas A&M University Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...

as a member of the Corps of Cadets; he was a student there when the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commer ...

occurred. At the end of that school year, he enlisted in the U.S. Army and, after completing

basic training Military recruit training, commonly known as basic training or boot camp, refers to the initial instruction of new military personnel. It is a physically and psychologically intensive process, which resocializes its subjects for the unique dema ...

, was deployed to Afghanistan. On May 21, 2005, while on a security patrol in the

Shinkay District Shinkay District is a district of Zabul Province in southern Afghanistan. It has a population of about 22,900 as of 2013. It contains the town of Ẕāmi Kalay. The district is within the heartland of the Tokhi tribe of Ghilji Pashtuns.

, his

Humvee The High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV; colloquial: Humvee) is a family of light, four-wheel drive, military trucks and utility vehicles produced by AM General. It has largely supplanted the roles previously performed by the ...

was struck by an

improvised explosive device An improvised explosive device (IED) is a bomb constructed and deployed in ways other than in conventional military action. It may be constructed of conventional military explosives, such as an artillery shell, attached to a detonating mecha ...

. The explosion killed one soldier, destroyed Soule's legs, leading to their amputation above the knees, and lightly wounded two other soldiers. Soule was evacuated to

Landstuhl Regional Medical Center The Landstuhl Regional Medical Center (LRMC), also known as Landstuhl Hospital, is a U.S. Army medical center, located in the German town of Landstuhl, near Ramstein Air Base. The installation is an amalgamation of Marceau Kaserne (german: Infan ...

in Germany and then transported to

Fort Sam Houston, Texas Fort Sam Houston is a U.S. Army post in San Antonio, Texas. "Fort Sam Houston, TX • About Fort Sam Houston" (overview), US Army, 2007, webpageSH-Army. Known colloquially as "Fort Sam," it is named for the U.S. Senator from Texas, U.S. Represen ...

, where he spent the next several years recuperating at

Brooke Army Medical Center Brooke Army Medical Center (BAMC) is the United States Army's premier medical institution. Located on Fort Sam Houston, BAMC, a 425-bed Academic Medical Center, is the Department of Defense's largest facility and only Level 1 Trauma Center. BAMC ...

. During his rehabilitation, Soule took up

handcycling A handcycle is a type of human-powered land vehicle powered by the arms rather than the legs, as on a bicycle. Most handcycles are tricycle in form, with two coasting rear wheels and one steerable powered front wheel. Despite usually having th ...

in order to stay active. In 2005, he attended a development camp of the Wood River Ability Program, run in conjunction with the U.S. Adaptive Cross Country Ski Team. Despite having scant skiing experience, he excelled at the new sport and only a year later moved to Sun Valley, Idaho, to train full-time. He took second place at the 2007 U.S. Championships and, after being named to the national cross-country ski team, finished the 2008 season 12th in the World Cup standings. Soule represented the U.S. at the 2010 Winter Paralympics in

Vancouver, British Columbia Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. The ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, where he competed in cross-country skiing and the

biathlon The biathlon is a winter sport that combines cross-country skiing and rifle shooting. It is treated as a race, with contestants skiing through a cross-country trail whose distance is divided into shooting rounds. The shooting rounds are not time ...

. He won the bronze medal in men's sitting pursuit on the opening day of the Paralympics, becoming the first American to win a biathlon medal in the either the Olympic or the Paralympic Games.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Soule, Andy 1980 births Living people People from Pearland, Texas Sportspeople from Brazoria County, Texas Texas A&M University alumni United States Army soldiers United States Army personnel of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) American amputees American male biathletes American male cross-country skiers Paralympic biathletes for the United States Paralympic cross-country skiers for the United States Biathletes at the 2010 Winter Paralympics Cross-country skiers at the 2010 Winter Paralympics Paralympic bronze medalists for the United States Biathletes at the 2014 Winter Paralympics Sportspeople from Harris County, Texas Medalists at the 2010 Winter Paralympics Biathletes at the 2018 Winter Paralympics Cross-country skiers at the 2018 Winter Paralympics Medalists at the 2018 Winter Paralympics Paralympic medalists in biathlon