Jason Redman: ‘The only thing stopping you from creating greatness in your life is you.’
Machine gun fire ripped through Jason Redman’s elbow, destroyed the bones above his eyes, shattered his jaw and left him with a partial nose.
The Navy SEAL took another round on his right side, caught in a deadly ambush to capture a high-value Al-Qaeda operative – a scene his team leader would later describe as the closest fire mission ever executed in Iraq.
Thought for dead, Redman survived that attack and dug deep to find what later would become his mantra, an Overcome Mindset that prioritizes attitude to determine outcome.
The Virginia Beach resident will share his story as the keynote speaker at VersAbility Resources’ Annual Fundraising Gala from 6 to 10 p.m., on Oct. 23 at The Mariners’ Museum. Tickets and sponsorship opportunities are available now.
“Everybody at some point is going to walk into an ambush,” says Redman, a motivational speaker, executive coach and top-selling author today. “These are those hard moments that just come along and knock us off our feet.”
Redman spent 11 years as an enlisted SEAL and a decade as a SEAL officer, leading teams into combat missions in Iraq and Afghanistan. The events from Sept. 13, 2007, left him permanently disfigured.
“That day became a benchmark for me,” he said. “It changed everything in my life.”
The extent of the nerve damage was unclear, Redman heard doctors say 96 hours later at the Bethesda Naval Medical Center. He was told he would never be able to use his left hand again. Amputation of an arm was discussed.
His world wasn’t just rocked. It was forever gone.
The Ohio native, whose military family includes a grandfather who flew bombers during World War II, a father who served in Vietnam and siblings in the Marines and Air Force, joined the Navy at age 17. Virginia Beach became his home after being sent there for boot camp. He completed SEAL training two years after graduating high school.
Lying in that hospital in Maryland, his jaw wired shut, Redman could only listen while processing the conversations at his bedside.
He heard two physicians talk about soldiers coming home broken and battered.
“They’re never going to be able to get back out there.”
“What a shame.”
It was what he calls a “The End” moment.
Only for Redman it was a new beginning – the chance to forget who he had been and focus on who he could become.
He motioned to his wife to let him write something, and he scribbled out a message on orange paper to post on the door to his room that urged anyone feeling sorry for him to go elsewhere.
“The room you are about to enter is a room of fun, optimism, and intense, rapid regrowth.”
While most can’t relate to the damage from literal bombs and bullets, the multiple stressors in life – an untimely medical diagnosis, a lost job, a dying business, anxiety – are also a version of ambushes, challenges that grind many to a halt, Redman said.
We get stuck, paralyzed at what Redman calls the X – fixated on the pain and misery of what’s been lost.
Redman refused to be a victim. He vowed to return to his full physical capability and go beyond that by strengthening his mental tenacity even further.
That means positivity over negativity every time.
That means hard moments turn into great opportunities.
“You have to be willing to overcome,” Redman says.
Often there is no ideal option or outcome, an obvious light at the end of the dark tunnel. That’s when acknowledgement of short term pain for long term gain is the best solution.
“It took me 12 years to get to the point where I am now,” said Redman, who delivered a Ted Talk “How To Get Through Hard Times,” five years ago.
Redman retired from the Navy in 2013 when he founded Wounded Wear, today the Combat Wounded Coalition, a nonprofit to support wounded warriors and their families. He is also the founder and CEO of SOF Spoken, which offers leadership workshops for businesses, sports teams, first responders and government organizations.
The Old Dominion University honors graduate, whose book “The Trident” is part of the Chief of Naval Operations’ professional reading program, earned a Bronze Star Medal of Valor and a Purple Heart among numerous other service awards.
He and his wife, Erica, are parents to three children. Redman has endured 37 surgeries.
“The only thing stopping you from creating greatness in your life is you,” he said. “When you are struggling, get off the X and overcome.”
VersAbility is so grateful to have Redman join their event on Thursday, October 23rd at the Mariners’ Museum to share his story and inspire others! Don’t miss out on an unforgettable evening and purchase your tickets now.
