James was a handsome young man and at 18 years of age believed that his destiny was just beginning. He was a decent marksman, and like his own brothers who had already enlisted, figured that the war was coming to his own backyard. James believed it was worth enlisting and though many of his own countrymen disagreed, the valor of war called the young Virginian to enlist in what is now West Virginia. Little did James know that only two days after joining the Virginia calvary his left leg would be torn off before he would have a chance to fire a single shot.

James was taken from the field by the enemy, who found the young man with a Union cannon while he was on his way to the horse stable that he had been sleeping in. The Union doctors knew that the enemy combatant would succumb to his wounds without their drastic action. They removed his left leg just below the hip. James awoke to be what many believe to be the first of over 50,000 amputations in the Civil War.

James Hanger, born February 25, 1843, was returned to his hometown of Churchville after a prisoner exchange took place. It was little concern that the crippled young man would ever return to a battlefield. The Union could have hung him for insurrection but had instead swapped the badly injured but mending young man to his home. The boy that dreamed of war was now in despair.

Hanger in one letter wrote, “I was the prey of despair. What could the world hold for a maimed, crippled man!” Apparently, it was a great deal despite the adversity that James would have to overcome. Hanger knew that his leg was lost but he dreamed of walking again. He designed his own prosthetic leg with no medical training before his injury. He patented his innovation and created what is now known as Hanger, Inc. It is thought to be worth well over a billion US dollars and creates custom prosthetics to people across the globe.

Adversity is part of life. The question is: does it define you or does it make you move to overcome? Only you can answer that question. Ultimately, like Hanger, the choice and limitations are largely defined by how we personally chose to either positively overcome adversity or negatively be overcome by it. What is your choice when you face adversity?