Barksdale Air Force Base, La. --
Jared Estes, his wife, Paige, and some close friends drove home from a hockey game one night in 2005, not knowing their lives would never be the same.
As the car slowed, approaching an intersection, another vehicle driven by a drunken driver collided with them at more than 100 miles per hour. The car was quickly engulfed in flames, but paramedics were able to save his life and provide critical first aid to other passengers.
Paige, who had married Jared only six months prior, didn’t survive. Jared survived, but suffered severe burns over 50 percent of his body. The next few years would take him through countless surgeries, skin grafts, occupational therapy and high-risk procedures. The loss of skin tissue caused him to run dangerously high fevers, and he was plagued by constant pain, nightmares taking him back to the fiery aftermath of the incident, and grief over the loss of his beloved.
Nearly 12 years later, Estes continues to tell his story of perseverance and recovery, and his nationwide events have now seen him to the 2nd Bomb Wing in the breezy, but humid Louisiana springtime. As he recounted his story to Airmen gathered in an auditorium, he gave them the tools he used to overcome hardship. Those tools were grace, teamwork, goal setting, fear, attitude, perspective, gratefulness, and letting go.
“I’ve had so many people show me infinite amounts of grace throughout my recovery, and I would not be here if it were not for them,” Estes said.
He also spoke about how Airmen can use fear as a weapon to overcome internal struggles.
“Our personal demons, who know us better than anybody, hide behind fear and they use fear to keep us from fulfilling our potential and finding our purpose, and if we never face those demons, they will continue to have power over us. I use fear like a road map. If I’m afraid of something, that’s where I’m going.
Airman 1st Class Jordan Thomas, 2nd Operations Support Squadron aircrew flight equipment technician, was inspired by Estes’ message.
“It doesn’t have to be something like what he went through,” she said. “Just remember to always be grateful, and you can actually use fear to help you.”
Senior Airman Juvante Dixon, 2nd Comptroller Squadron command support staff, said that Estes gave her a different way to look at life.
“It’s not all about you. You need to realize what’s going on with everybody else,” she said.
Estes concluded his time with the Mighty Deuce by telling Airmen to command their circumstances no matter how bad the situation gets.
“I don’t believe we ever have to be victims of our circumstances,” he said. “It’s the opposite. We can be masters of our circumstances and take those things that are difficult that could have held us down and use those things to help us find our purpose and propel us forward.