Corporal Matt Cole

In 2003, my reserve unit was called to serve in Iraq. After I returned home, I attended culinary school. I've worked in the restaurant business for most of my life and knew that I always wanted to be involved in it. In January 2005, I was about to start my last class to become a chef, when my reserve unit was activated for its second deployment in Iraq.

On May 17, 2005, while I was serving as the crew chief of an Amphibious Assault Vehicle with the U.S. Marines' Second Marine Expeditionary Force, insurgents attacked our forward operating base in Haditha, Iraq. I was hit with shrapnel from a mortar attack that left me paralyzed from the chest down. I spent 3 ½ months undergoing rehabilitation at the Veterans Affairs Hospital in Tampa, FL. I wondered if I would ever go back to culinary school.

In late August 2005, I was discharged from the hospital and was scheduled to head back to my home in Covington, LA – which is a half hour north of New Orleans – when Hurricane Katrina hit. My wife and I ended up staying in a hotel in Tampa for three weeks. When I returned home, there were lots of downed trees, piles of rubble, debris and everything else you could possibly imagine. Luckily, my home wasn't destroyed.

It was during rehabilitation when I first heard about the iBOTchair. It uses multiple computers to help its users to: climb curbs and stairs, travel around town at an elevated eye-to-eye height and move over different types of terrain, like sand, gravel and grass. I spoke with representatives from the Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund. The organization does a tremendous amount to help Marines like me with problems that they face after they are injured. I really can't say enough about all of the great things they did for me. I told them about the iBOT and the effect it would have on my life and they immediately agreed to get it for me.With the iBOT, I'll be more independently efficient in the kitchen as I can get that extra height to grab ingredients off the shelves and have the ability to go wherever I want, when I want. The iBOT will enable me to literally move up and excel in the restaurant business.

Today – Matt has completed culinary school and is working full time as a chef in New Orleans.