News On 13 April 2004, US soldier Melissa Stockwell had her left leg amputated above the knee, after being hit by a roadside bomb in Baghdad, Iraq This could have been the end of the story for the 23-year-old, who had dreamed of being an Olympic gymnast in her teenage years Fast forward 11 years and Stockwell is standing on the podium in Copacabana receiving a silver medal after the Rio 2016 paratriathlon test event It’s a feat she plans to repeat at the Paralympic Games next year In her first days of post-surgery recovery in her hospital bed in Baghdad, Stockwell had already made her mind up: she was lucky She had three working limbs, a clear mind, good eyesight and most of all, was alive She battled through further operations, infections, dark days, and 52 days after losing her leg, she took her first steps on her new prosthetic leg From then on, there was no stopping her She skied down the slopes on one leg in Colarado She completed the New York on a handcycle, a feat she repeated a few years later, but this time running In 2005, through the United States Olympic Committee’s Paralympic Military and Veteran Program, she began training for the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games In April 2008, she became the first Iraq war veteran to qualify for the Paralympic Games, and in China she represented her nation in swimming and carried her nation’s flag in the closing ceremony Again, this was only the start  Stockwell turned her attention to paratriathlon, in which she competes in the PT2 class She has won three world championship titles (2010, 2011 and 2012) and twice been elected paratriathlete of the year Last year, another new chapter, Stockwell became a mother This August she left little Dallas Patrick Tolsma at home with his dad Brian, and headed to Rio for the test event, where she shared the podium with fellow Americans Hailey Danisewicz (gold) and Seely Allysa (bronze) Triathlon will make its debut at the Paralympic Games in Rio, and the likelihood of Stockwell writing another passage in the story of her amazing life is strong Melissa Stockwell with her son Dallas and husband Brian (Photo: melissastockwell com) To find out more about Melissa Stockwell, click here Tickets to the Paralympic Games will go on sale to Brazilians and residents of Brazil on 7 September, which marks one year to the opening ceremony Overseas fans will be able to buy tickets through authorised ticket resellers (ATRs) in their countries Details will be available on rio2016 com/en on 7 September