Nick Lavery’s childhood was not easy. His parents struggled but did everything they could to provide for him and his sister. She spoke admiringly of her mother and father’s efforts and also felt that her ability to flour was a gift she received from them. Lavery was athletic and fit thanks to his time on the gridiron, as well as playing lacrosse, wrestling and running. He recalled that they moved frequently during his childhood, which made it difficult to develop and maintain friendships. What he lacked socially, he made up for when it came to stability.
“I had to repeat mental toughness several times from the time I was four years old until I got to college.”
Maybe he didn’t know what he wanted to do as an adult, but it didn’t take him long to figure it out. Laver was 19 years old and focused on college football at the time of the 9/11 attacks on American soil. After seeing the devastation and consequences of the tragic events of that day, he decided to change his football uniform to this country.
“I started looking into options to enlist or join the military and eventually decided to go the route of becoming a Green Beret in the Army Special Forces.”
How sustainability has become a necessity
In 2010, Lavery achieved his goal of becoming a Green Beret. He was on his second tour in Afghanistan as a squad weapons sergeant when his life changed forever. His team became the victim of a “green on blue” attack. A suspected allied soldier outside the group turned towards the group and opened fire. While defending a fellow soldier, Lavery was shot several times in the lower body at close range. According to reports, a total of six people were killed and 20 others were injured. Lavery almost died twice during medical transport. When he arrived at Walter Reed National Medical Center, he had to undergo more than 30 surgeries and eventually lost his right leg above the knee.
After Lavery was able to begin physical therapy, it became clear that the struggles would be more than just physical. He was open about the mental struggles he had
recovered, citing the fact that the concept of surrender has crossed his mind more than once. Like all servicemen faced with this challenge, Lavery came to a crossroads.
“I saw two options on the table from the moment I was in the hospital. Option A is that you fall over and die. Option B is that you go back to what you did on this planet. That was it; it was that simple. I certainly didn’t know how I could do it, but I knew exactly what I wanted to do.”
Way back into the fight
Over the next two years, Lavery committed to adjusting to life as an amputee and finding a way back into the war. The goal became an obsession for him, even to the point of practicing getting in and out of cars as an amputee at normal speed. The training and trials he underwent to return to the battlefield were beyond the norm, but he never shied away from a challenge. Rocking 12 miles, towing 220 pounds in full gear, and proving he could navigate rough terrain and climb ladders efficiently were just some of the tasks he had to go through to prove himself.
One can imagine the sense of triumph and redemption that Lavery felt when his boots hit the ground in Afghanistan, but the moment was not as it was written on film or in the mind of the average American. As Lavery recalled, it was brief at best.
“I’m talking like seconds. It’s like, ‘Okay, I did it.’ Then it’s like, ‘Now we have to do it.'”
How short that moment was for him is what will last longer in the eyes of history. Lavery is the first above-knee amputee to return to full combat action. He received many awards for his efforts and heroism, including the Silver Star, the Purple Heart, and he later received the Special Operations Command (SOCOM) Excalibur Award.
The birth of the car
As important as these accolades are, his nickname “The Machine” is what makes him most proud of how he earned it. When he returned to Afghanistan, children ran to see them, which was a good sign. After seeing Lavery, they referred to him in their language as a “car fighter”. The remarkable thing was that this was not an isolated incident.
“Well, it happened over and over again throughout the deployment. So that term ‘car’ became a thing for me as an individual. Next year in Somalia, different continent, the exact same thing happens. Well, now my colleagues are like ‘yeah, it’s totally the same thing’.”
The nickname stuck and became part of himself and his brand. After earning a return to the battlefield, he was advised that he would eventually need a hip replacement if he could not find another way to serve. He is still on active duty and is currently a Warrant Officer. He is also different from himself MCHN brand (pronounced “car”), which includes his coaching business, community ecosystem, and tactical philosophy. He also operates a B2B business called Precision Components and is an active public speaker.
The father of two shows his children and many others around him that no matter the hardships and struggles they face, there is a way to not only survive, but to thrive. This belief can be considered a gift he received from his parents during his childhood.
“Those seeds were planted just by their work ethic and their willingness to sacrifice.”
For more on Lavery, be sure to check out his appearance on the inaugural episode of the Fit to Serve podcast with Tim Wilkins on M&F YouTube Channel.
