CINCINNATI — As a kid, Chad Ohmer loved sports, specifically hockey. Growing up on the West Side of Cincinnati (the North Bend area), Ohmer's favorite NHL team was the Colorado Avalanche.
“Growing up it was always between the Avs (Avalanche) and the Red Wings. I wasn’t going to be no Red Wings fan growing up in Ohio," Ohmer said.
Ohmer's favorite player was NHL legend Patrick Roy.
“When I watched Patrick Roy skate out to center ice to fight a goalie, it was on from there. I was like, 'oh my God I’m in love with these guys. This is amazing,'” Ohmer said.
Fighting for something bigger than any individual made Chad fall in love with the game as a fan, but it was derived from something deeper: The idea of being on a team.
Ohmer joined the country’s most important team: The United States Military. He served two tours in Afghanistan as a member of the Marine Corps.
His favorite part? "Oh, the camaraderie for sure."
During Ohmer's second tour in Afghanistan, most of his days were spent trying to help people, serving as what he described as "sort of like police in the United States."
One day in 2012, Ohmer and a team of fellow Marines were tasked with looking for a particular person. When approaching the specific location, the enemies were waiting for the search party. Ohmer's group split up into two.
“I took a team of guys down into the tunnel. We started clearing out the tunnel some. We heard an explosion up above," Ohmer said.
Ohmer and his team ran to the explosion.
"Not a whole lot is going through my mind other than what we are trained to do in this situation... a couple of my guys from my team ended up stepping on an IED (improvised explosive device),” Ohmer said.
Ohmer patched up his fellow Marine. As the wounded soldier sat up, he accidentally set off a second IED.
“Him laying on top of it. He took the majority of the blast. Saving mine and the other Marine’s life,” Ohmer said.
That was an appreciation that sunk in later. In the moment, Ohmer was dealing with a direct blast to his body.
“I realized that I was flipping through the air. It threw me about 20 feet… There was a leg laying right next to me in a boot, I picked that up, set that on my lap. Thinking that was my buddy’s who I was just assessing from the first explosion who was laying on top of the IED. Then I looked down and started assessing myself and realized that’s my leg on my lap," Ohmer said.
Ohmer’s fellow marines got him to safety, beginning the journey to recovery.
“I think we are at 52 surgeries between both of my legs. It was just a lot of patience I guess,” Ohmer said.
Semper Fi & America's Fund, an organization that cares for the USA's critically wounded, ill, and injured service members, veterans, and military families, introduced Chad to paraskiing in Park City, Utah.
He caught the bug for para sports, guiding him to an opportunity to pursue a dream. For the first time, Chad Ohmer could be like his boyhood heroes and hit the ice.
“Never having a school to play for growing up, it wasn’t as easy or in my reach as it is for some,” Ohmer said.
The fan became the athlete. Chad travels across the country as a key player for the Cincinnati Ice Breakers sled hockey team.
"It’s hard smashing, it’s fast paced. It’s everything you love about hockey, but a little bit more,” Ohmer said.
“It’s just a team sport," Jeremy Querry, Ohmer's teammate on the Ice Breakers, said. "I used to play a lot of sports growing up. After I got injured I was looking for something to do. The camaraderie, the teamwork."
The perfect fit for the ultimate teammate.
"I picked it up very quick, it was different than anything that I’ve ever done,” Ohmer said.
“We all kind of deal with the same kind of things off the ice. It all took different avenues to get there. We all can relate in different ways, but we all know what each other are kind of dealing with,” Querry said.
“I joke with people all the time that I make this look really good, I make it look really easy. It’s not. There is still a day-to-day struggle,” Ohmer said.
“He just picks everybody up. It doesn’t matter what kind of day you’re having. He’s going to cheer you on no matter what,” Querry said.
“It’s a different ability, not a disability,” Ohmer said.
Chad Ohmer is currently training to compete with the United States Para Bobsled team, hoping to qualify for the Milan Winter Olympics in 2026.
Once a team player, always a team player.
