When cosmetics mogul Elizabeth Arden purchased hundreds of acres in rural Maine for her summer estate-turned-spa she probably didn’t think it would become a haven for veterans with missing limbs, but that’s exactly what retired Army Staff Sergeant Travis Mills thought when he purchased the property in 2015.
Mills, who lost all four of his limbs as the result of an IED blast while on his third tour of Afghanistan in 2012, is one of only five surviving quadruple amputee combat veterans in the U.S. After an extensive rehabilitation journey at Walter Reed Hospital he and his wife Kelsey started the Travis Mills Foundation to help support returning veterans. What started with $5,000 to provide care packages has grown into an initiative which now encompasses a ‘zero-barrier’ retreat facility where each week eight families from around the country come for a full slate of recreational activities, all of which are accessible to people with missing limbs or other disabilities. All expenses, including travel costs, are covered by the Foundation to keep in line with the ‘zero barrier’ mission of the retreat center.
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