SAN ANTONIO — JP Lane was deployed to Afghanistan in 2010 and his job was to search for IEDs. He recalled how one of the search activities led to a devastating blast. He ended up losing both of his legs and sustained 24 other injuries, which included multiple broken bones.
“My left femur snapped in half. My pelvis broke in half. My spine dislocated from my pelvis. My four front teeth were knocked out. Everything inside my torso was destroyed except my heart and my left lung,” he said.
Lane stayed at a hospital for about a year to recover from his injuries. He said doctors predicted he would face challenges with his speech.
“I shouldn’t be allowed to sing because of one of the 28 surgeries I had was a tracheotomy on my throat. The doctors ended up damaging my vocal chords,” recalled Lane.
He said therapy was extremely difficult, but he not only regained his ability to talk, but to sing.
“The military taught me one thing that I will never forget. Never give up. Never surrender,” he said. “God gave me the strength to keep me moving forward. So when he gives you a talent, you keep moving with that.”
Lane grew up in Wisconsin and said music was a part of his life ever since he was young. He was a drummer on the worship team at his church. He also played in bands while in high school. Lane said he always knew in his heart that he wanted to pursue singing. He’s now the only double amputee veteran recording artist in the world. He travels across the country and the world to perform his songs.
June is PTSD awareness month. Lane hopes veterans will be inspired by “Lift You Up,” a song he wrote that’s dedicated to those who are struggling with PTSD. The song lyrics encourage people to rely on God amidst the struggle.
“If you just look up? He can lift you up and lift you out of that hole. A lot of time we try to rely on our own strength, and own will, if you will, to get us out of negative situations and it ends up never working,” said Lane.
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