Rob started his career as a naval aviator in Milton, Florida. He went on to fly helicopters on multiple deployments to the Middle East.

He spent most of his military career abroad. After his service in the Middle East, he lived in in Bahrain and South Korea with his family for thirteen years.

As the end of his military career neared, Rob knew he wanted to return home. In a full-circle moment, he was stationed again at Milton, Florida where it all began. This time as a Professional Flight Instructor.

On August 19, 2021, Rob was performing flight instructor duties with a student.

“The last thing I remember was flying at 600 feet above ground level at one of our outlying fields getting ready to initiate a maneuver.”

He woke up in an ambulance.

“I had a lot of pain in my lower back and no feeling or sensation in my legs." In addition to his paralysis, Rob also had a collapsed lung, seven broken ribs, multiple wounds on his legs and feet, a broken forearm, one badly sprained ankle, and one broken ankle.

Just eight months later, a tragic accident changed Robert's life forever.

He was performing flight instructor duties with a flight student

Ballard has served for 20 years in the U.S. Navy including 10 years overseas in the Middle East and South Korea. He is wheelchair bound after his helicopter crashed last year during a training exercise in East Milton. His quick actions saved a student onboard and himself.

During a training exercise,

“I was injured in a helicopter crash on Aug 19, 2021 at a Navy Outlying Field (OLF) performing flight instructor duties with a flight student. The last thing I remember about the mishap before waking up in the ambulance enroute to the hospital was flying at 600 ft Above Ground Level (AGL) at one of our Outlying Fields (OLF) getting ready to initiate a maneuver.”

Rob was transferred to one of the top spinal cord injury centers in the country where his wife could be with him and learn to be a caregiver.

“Nothing can prepare you for learning how to live as a complete paraplegic," he explained. "Not only was I learning how to live without the use of my legs, but I was learning to live without any function in my bowel or bladder."

For our heroes who pride themselves on being self-sufficient and always in service of others, becoming reliant on caregivers can be a difficult transition.

"Learning how to dress yourself, bathroom activities, grooming, and healing from all the trauma takes a toll.”