It was love at first sight…

Jason Sturm is a 5-year veteran of the Army, who was injured in 2002 when an artillery round fell 1.5 miles short of its target, killing two soldiers and injuring 13 others. Jason lost his left leg below the knee and has spent his time since then traveling to promote CrossFit as a rehabilitative and recovery tool for veterans.  He has worked to increase inclusion for all adaptive athletes in gyms and in competitive sports. While attending a broadcast of Fox and Friends in New York in support of an event benefitting Companions for Heroes, he met an anxious Red Nose Pit Bull named Sassy who was being fostered locally in the city. With an iPhone picture and a text message, Jason alerted his wife that he had to bring this girl home.

Jason has always loved the American Pit Bull Terrier breed and had already adopted two rescues who had been found in a dumpster, covered in mange and suffering from multiple skin infections. Jason’s Pit Bulls are his emotional support companions, helping him to manage the anxiety of his daily schedule, balanced between school, work, family obligations, non-profit work, and training. Companions for Heroes facilitated Sassy’s adoption, and as soon as Jason, a champion Paralympic bobsledder, returned from his bobsled races a month after meeting her, he raced to New York to pick up his new girl.

Integrating Sassy into the family with the two other family dogs was a challenge at first, but once they established their pecking order, things began to run smoothly. Sassy loves to ride in the front seat of Jason’s car, and she loves going to CrossFit gyms with him. Jason and Sassy’s favorite thing to do is to just unwind on the couch together. As soon as he arrives home, she follows him around the house until he is ready to sit down. There’s a special bond between Jason and Sassy. “I think its because she knows I fell in love with her from the very second I saw her,” Jason says.