Disabled vet is shooting for a trip to the Rio Olympics
RALEIGH (WTVD) -- The Valor Games currently going on in the Triangle showcases the skills of disabled veterans and current members of the armed forces. One of the competitors is hoping for a trip to Rio and the Olympics later this summer.
She can shoot a 299 out of 300, and in her four years competing in archery, Babette Peyton has racked up more than 60 medals. But, it's how she does it that's so amazing.
Her path to the top has not been easy. During her time in the military, Babette suffered a progressive, stroke-like injury that left her paralyzed on her left side. Then, more challenges hit.
"[I was] in and out of hospitals. My mother passed, my father passed, my oldest brother, my youngest brother [passed], and so they put me in a nursing home," Babette explained. "And then, they started talking about putting me in hospice, so I thought, a hospice is some place where people go to die."
Babette was so depressed at that point that she wrote her own obituary. But it was when she hit rock-bottom that a life-changing opportunity saved her.
"[At the VA hospital,] they told me about the Military Paralympic Sports Camp, and the OD said they would pay for me to go up there for a week, and an aide to go with me."
During that week in Rhode Island, Babette took part in every sport. But, she was reluctant when faced with her final task - archery.
"So I'm like, 'I can't do this. I just can't. Everybody is going to be using their arms. This is a two-arm sport,'" she recalled.
On her first two tries, she hit the bullseye.
"I was so relieved! I was thanking God," Babette said.
Babette now has the ultimate opportunity to qualify for a spot on the U.S. Paralympic Team in Rio.
"I still have two trials. I have the trial to make the team and I have the trial to get on...all the team will be competing against itself."
After overcoming all of her obstacles, it's this Olympic goal, this new purpose in life, that gives her hope and the ultimate perseverance.
"Finally, it registered," Babette shared. "I'm not dying, I might have to do things differently, but I can still live. It put a little seed inside of me."
