A letter to David Goggins

Good afternoon Mr. Goggins,

My name is De and this email that I am sending to you is about my husband. I met him 13 years ago in Germany at our first duty station, he had just gotten to the rank of specialist, and I was a private first class, (This will make sense in a moment.) He had a newborn son and already preparing for divorce. (We all know the military life isn't for everyone.) One of the first encounters I had with him was that he wanted that diamond on his chest he had a flame in him that wasn't going to stop at anything to get it. Having my baby less than a year into our relationship we decided that I would give up the army and support him in his career and raise babies. Within that first year, he ended up with a slipped disk and hernia, after two surgeries he made it to his next duty station where we met up again after a year of being separated due to me having to get out of the military and go back to the States. We went to Texas(e5) for the next duty station and I was struggling with ptsd and ppd which almost ended the relationship (The VA took years to get me help) during that time we saw him one week a month for almost 21/2 years due to field rotations and ended up having a second daughter after I was given the help I needed to get better, we soon after move to our next duty station in Kansas(e6) and found out we were pregnant with our third child a son. He was in Korea for that birth and missed most of the pregnancy and first 5 months of our sons' life, (Which we knew was going to happen... army life) but he came home to 3 young children and life got back to normal. We drove to NYS to see my family and show off the newest edition to the family and have my husband look for another job (the army had failed us and we were giving up.) My husband (Bobby) was helping my elderly grandmother with yard work hit a ground wasp nest and got stung 19-21 times and died on her front porch. (We were not there when it happened.) I found him at the hospital later to find him covered in blood and his clothes destroyed, that was a life-changing event for not only him but us. After getting him the care, he needed we made it back to Kansas and got a new duty station shortly after and moved to Virginia(e7). His original spine injury flared back up and he ended up getting surgery on his spine for a second time. When he got home from the surgery maybe not even 2 days later something went wrong. I noticed the incision was discolored and not healing. He ended up in the hospital due to walking to his car to pt and collapsing in the parking lot. He couldn't walk lost ALL functionality of both legs and found out the doctor that performed the surgery had dirty utensils and my husband went septic. Covid hit at that time and we could not be with him in the hospital, he had to have a nurse come to our home and make sure he was injecting himself correctly, he had tubes that went right to his heart to help with the infection this went on for months. He needed another surgery after that and lost all hope. He had to learn how to walk again he was so low that I had to think about the safety of our children and think about leaving him. The anger and frustration and hurt that he was going through scared me enough to go he threatened to end his life. Our lives were over at this point and we were alone. Having the man that I love and had children say that to me was the worst thing imaginable. I couldn't save him I couldn't help him I was making it worse. Until one night scrolling Tic toc or Facebook, HE FOUND YOU. Through his darkness he found you that voice that made it through to him, you saved his life you gave him meaning and something to focus on. He had to learn to walk again and listen to your book while he was working out. The man learned to walk by listening to you and learned to run again. After his last surgery, it was maybe 90 days or less he started to run again. His goal was to run 100 miles in one month. I wasn't there with him, you were you were that goal in his life to make it out of the hole he was in. He did that 100 miles with you in his ear and he never thought he could achieve that goal. So I want to say thank you for saving his life and getting him to where he knew he wanted to be. You have become a household name in my family, and you have given so much to my husband that I could never express my gratitude for. He wears your hat every day and works out in your shirts he shows everyone what you have done for him and what led him to know he can accomplish anything he sets out to do. We are in Washington State at JBLM and he has that diamond on his chest.