Alex Minsky is a 24-year-old U.S. Marine whose right leg was amputated by a roadside bomb in 2009 while he was serving in Afghanistan. Minsky spent 47 days in a coma and suffered traumatic brain injuries and severe burns to his body from the explosion.
“I was down,” the Calif.-based Minsky told ABC News. “I was numb and I was running away from everything…especially myself, my own head.”
Minsky suffered from depression and turned to alcohol to cope until he decided to fight back by stopping drinking and starting to work out.
“I didn’t want to run anymore,” he said. “I wanted to face my problems instead.”
It was at the gym that Minsky got his big break when he was spotted by a photographer.
“He approached me and said, ‘Have you ever modeled? Like what are you? What are you doing?’” Minsky recalled.
“It was too hard to pass up,” said the photographer, Tom Cullis. “He had a movie star face with wild ink and sweat.”
Now Minsky is showing off the results of his daily four-hour workouts as an underwear and fashion model. He also posts updates to his Facebook page and serves as an inspiration to other people with disabilities. “Alex wants to be an inspiration to people, to move past their disabilities,” Cullis said. “Don’t give up.”
While Minsky’s story inspires people to keep going, his chiseled abs may inspire people to shape up. So what is his secret? Turns out, it’s avocados.
“I eat them all the time,” he said. “I like wolf it down really quick, with usually egg.”
