Matta gains inspiration helping soldiers through Wounded Warrior Project

Former Army Spc. Maria Matta has always set out to challenge herself in life. She saw it as a challenge when she decided to join the Army, and after getting into a life-changing car accident, she continues to challenge herself as a member of the Wounded Warrior Project.

Growing up in Puerto Rico, Matta was competitive in pageants and as a ballet and jazz dancer. She attended the University of Puerto Rico with plans to major in industrial engineering but moved to the United States after getting married.

When her husband went from a reservist to active duty and got orders for his first tour to Iraq in 2004, Matta decided to enlist in the military herself.

“I’ve done everything I can think of, and this was something that was out of my comfort zone. I just saw it as a challenge — a challenge that I enjoyed,” she said.

After completing basic training in Fort Jackson, S.C. and advanced individual training at Fort Lee, Va., Matta started working as a petroleum supply specialist.

“There’s just something about the Army ... It was like a brotherhood,” Matta said. “You’ve got to work and you do your job, but after work you’re still a family.”

Stationed at Fort Campbell, Ky. with the 102nd Quartermaster Company, 101st Brigade Troops Batallion, 101st Sustainment Brigade, 101st Airborne Division, she worked daily with helicopters refueling, scheduling petroleum transports, testing oil levels and performing other duties.

“I had a plan for the future of staying in that line of work, but then I got injured and everything changed,” Matta said.

In August 2006, Matta was heading home from work for the day when she got into a car accident so critical that she had to be medevacked to a Nashville hospital.

She was treated for a broken femur bone, concussion, internal bleeding and extensive road burns.

“I was pretty much not trying to pass out,” Matta said. “I was scared of going to sleep and not waking up.”

Matta was in the hospital for two weeks, home for three months and seven years later is still recovering from the accident.

After the accident, Matta continued her work for the Army working in an office setting with her company before being medically discharged in 2008.

In 2010, she moved to Fort Rucker with her husband, who was working as a flight engineer for CH-47s.

Matta began working for the military as a civilian with the surgeon general mandated program RESPECT-MIL, which stands for Re-engineering Systems of the Primary Care Treatment (of depression and post traumatic stress disorder) in the Military.

The program works to provide primary care based screening, assessment, treatment and referral of Army soldiers with depression and PTSD.

Upon screening, program workers are able to identify needs early and offer assistance in a primary care setting.

Through her work, she’s found a variety of other options in patient care for soldiers dealing with depression and/or PTSD — the most prevalent being the Wounded Warrior Project.

“Say we had a patient who was receiving treatment for PTSD but he just doesn’t feel that anybody understands him and feels his life is going nowhere. I would open up options for him like the Wounded Warrior Project and tell him what it’s done for me, and what it’s done for my friends,” Matta said. “I would just open a world of possibilities for the patient to just not feel that the only options they have are the one’s offered in the clinic and that there’s other stuff out there that they can take advantage of.”

The mission of the Wounded Warrior Project is to honor and empower wounded warriors.

According to their website, the project’s purpose is to raise awareness and enlist the public’s aid for the needs of injured service members, help injured service members aid and assist each other and provide unique and direct programs and services to meet the needs of injured service members.

One of those programs is the Soldier Ride, which uses cycling to overcome physical, mental and emotional wounds.

Soldier rides are completed throughout the country.

Matta first got involved in the Wounded Warrior Project last year after being told about it by a friend.

“One day I was just talking to him and he explained to me how the project works and how it was helping him through cycling,” she said. “He encouraged me to go online and register as an alumni and so I did.”

In November 2012, Matta participated in her first Soldier Ride in Nashville, Tenn.

Since then, Matta has completed several cycling events in cities like Seattle, Wash. and Washington, D.C.

Matta said the cycling acts as another way of challenging herself.

“I had never done any bike riding before,” she said. “After I got out (of the Army) I was really in a rut and not doing anything for myself. I was just in a wake up, survive, go to sleep mode. So this was something that got me excited.”

After her first ride and gaining some experience, she saw it as a great way to be active and support her fellow soldiers.

Through the project, Matta has steadily cycled more and more when she has approval from her doctor to participate.

One of the biggest and longest biking events she has completed was in Enterprise.

The Boll Weevil 100, sponsored by the Enterprise Lion’s Club, gave options on distances for the race, but Matta completed the entire 100-kilometer race.

“That has been my biggest one so far,” Matta said. “I’m really proud of that one.”

The Boll Weevil 100 has been hosted in Enterprise since 2001 and has continued to grow each year. This year, the event was in its 12th year and welcomed nearly 400 participants, including about 50 Wounded Warrior Project cyclists.

Matta said going from doing 40 miles in two days to about 60 miles in a matter of hours was definitely a challenge, but she completed the race in about 4.5 hours.

“I was so excited and I was just so proud of myself,” she said. “I had a friend go with me through the ride and he was just my biggest supporter and he would not let me quit even though I wanted to quit by mile five.”

Matta said she tries to recruit as many people as she can to participate in the Wounded Warrior Project.

“It’s inspiring,” she said. “We are capable of so much and we just don’t realize it.”

Matta said sometimes people can often complain about not being able to do something, but seeing the soldiers associated with the Wounded Warrior Project gives a different perspective.

“Every time we go on any ride, you see guys and girls that are in the recumbent bikes that have back issues or they can’t walk or you see them with the custom bikes where they have to go with their hands ... We complain so much that we can’t do something yet you go to this race and you see them just surpass your expectations and then surpass everything you can do,” Matta said. “That is just so inspiring. I think that’s the biggest thing about the rides is that they inspire you to keep going and not complain so much and just live life at its fullest.”

Matta has plans to continue with her participation in the Wounded Warrior Project rides. She has been invited to another Soldier Ride in San Antonio, Texas and plans to attend if she’s cleared by her doctor to complete the race.

For more information about the Wounded Warrior Project, visit www.woundedwarriorproject.org.