Wednesday, November 23, 2011

J.R. Martinez Wins Coveted Mirrorball

JR Martinez and Karina Smirnoff win season 13

Jose Rene Martinez is an amazing example of how ordinary people can overcome difficult and painful obstacles and accomplish extraordinary things.

JR's journey has been incredible. Born in Louisiana in 1983, he enlisted in the army in 2002. He was deployed to Iraq in 2003 and was there only 2 months when the Humvee he was driving hit a landmine.

JR was burned over 40% of his body. He was airlifted to Germany and spent almost 3 years in hospital recovering. To date he has undergone 33 surgeries and skin grafts.

This is where the story gets really inspirational. JR was asked to speak to a newly burned patient and try and comfort him. Not only did it work but JR discovered he has a way with people.

He became a motivational speaker and has been honored nationally for his work, on multiple occasions by various veterans groups and more.

He's a fixture on General Hospital, a groundbreaking role for daytime television.

As far as Dancing With the Stars goes, we liked Ricki Lake but are sick of Derek Hough winning and although we like Cheryl Burke, there's no way we wanted Rob Shallnotbenamed to win. So this was perfect.

It's thrilling to have a guy like JR, who breaks the mold in every way, win this year. He's already accomplished amazing things and we can't wait to see what he does in the future.

News Article

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