Lyubim Kogan, a 9/11 survivor, shares his transformative journey from Wall Street to founding Wings for Heroes, a mission helping wounded veterans rebuild their lives through adventure therapy, physical rehabilitation, and community support.
• Survived 9/11 and used Red Cross assistance to start his financial practice, where his first client was a Vietnam veteran with PTSD
• Witnessed the realities of war while working in Ukraine, particularly inspired by a teenage amputee soldier’s resilience
• Created Wings 4 Heroes to help amputee veterans experience adventure through paragliding and comprehensive support
• Program provides physical therapy, psychological support, and builds confidence by showing veterans they can travel and function in new environments
• Emphasizes that amputee veterans often lack adequate support after discharge, especially in war-torn regions
• Expanded program from just adventure experiences to include medical support like physical therapy to save remaining limbs
• Highlights how veterans with profound physical limitations still find purpose through family or meaningful activities
• Believes apathy is the greatest threat to society and encourages everyone to help through blood donation, volunteering, or financial support
To learn more about Wings 4 Heroes or to support their mission, visit wings4heroes.org.
If you wish to learn more about Sylvia Worsham’s story, visit her webpage at www.sylviaworsham.com and download your gift.
Transcript:
Speaker 1:
If you’ve ever struggled with fear, doubt or worry and wondering what your true purpose was all about, then this podcast is for you. In this show, your host, sylvia Worsham, will interview elite experts and ordinary people that have created extraordinary lives. So here’s your host, sylvia Worsham.
Speaker 3:
Hey, lightbringers, it’s Sylvia Worsham. Welcome to Release that Revealed Purpose. And today is Lubin and Kagan and I was just blown away with his story when I read it because I find it so interesting. The time today is June 16th, when we’re recording this, and it’s my father’s first anniversary of his passing away, and he was a veteran. And Lubin as well has learned a lot from veterans, more than he ever did in Wall Street. He has an amazing story to tell. He’s a 9-11 survivor. Without further ado, lubin, thank you so much for joining us and releasing that reveal purpose.
Speaker 2:
Thank you for having me, sylvia, and thank you for sharing. Today is a very important day and I’m sorry for your loss. Let’s make this show in memory of your dad, who was a veteran. Let’s do it.
Speaker 3:
Yes, let’s. What was his name? His name was jose dia lobos and he served in vietnam in 1969. He was drafted and he was there for a year and a half and, unfortunately, the reason why he passed was because he was exposed to agent orange as a surgeon and they all those guys in those years developed meningiomas and Parkinson’s disease and my dad ended up with a brain tumor and it just never went away. They kept doing surgery on it and they kept coming back, and the last time he was 83 years old and he said you know, jose, there’s nothing else we can do. And so we basically were given the terminal diagnosis in August of 2023.
Speaker 3:
And I remember just sitting back and asking God to help me, because I knew my dad was going to lose this battle. And I’m glad I did, because when he did pass away, there was a form of peace along with it, because his body had already abandoned him long ago and he had given his all and I was just so blessed to be there to witness it, you know. And so I always say I said it then, I’ll say it now he graduated into heaven, because, you know, our life is a form of graduation of sorts. We go through various stages in our life and as we move through life we learn so much more and we wish we had known that wisdom from the time we were born, because it would have made our life a lot easier. And so we gain all this, all this information, as we journey and we we move through the pain and the loss and the grief and then we get to a space where we just really all we want is peace, and my father had reached that long before he passed away. So I I I see it as a graduation of sorts, because when you get to heaven you really are in the eternal life where you’re just full of joy and love and life and there’s no more pain and loss, and that’s wonderful.
Speaker 3:
So, labima, I just I really want to know about your story. I was really intrigued. You being a 9-11 survivor and just working with mpt veterans. Do tell us your story of transformation um, you know what?
Speaker 2:
let’s just we need a little bit of practice to the story. I came to the United States when I was 17 it was back in 1992 and I had two dreams. One was my dad’s and one was mine. I wanted to ski and I wanted to make it to the Olympics and my dad wanted me to go to a really good business school. So it so happened that I was able to do both and my dream, the next dream, was actually working in the World Trade Center, because I went to New York University and any time of the day you go outside and you look down south and you could see the World Trade Center towers and to me they represented this collective it’s like all the six paths of the most, the brightest and the most adventurous and the risk takers of this world, people who came to this amazing place, united States of America. A lot of them were immigrants and then they worked hard and they were able to put together you know those magnificent buildings and you know I was fortunate to work in the world trade center and after it was destroyed I knew that there was nothing left for me to do in in new york, so I left new york, I went to california, then I went to colorado, then I went to Colorado, then I went to Texas and then I came back to Colorado and that’s where I spent more than 10 years and one of the things that happened on the way is that, since my main place of employment was destroyed and it was active terror I classified as a displaced person and the American Red Cross sent me a check for $15,000 and they said here is the check, for you will be good luck through bill. You know, come back strong.
Speaker 2:
And I opened my own company, my financial practice. The first year was 2004. And my first client was named Bill. He was a Vietnam veteran and Bill taught me well. First of all, he was one of the. He was my client, so to me he wasn’t that scary, but he was one of the most real and scary people that I’ve met in my entire life. I had clients. Aurora Police Department were my clients and one time I picked up a really big check I think it was an $800,000 check from one of the police officers who was retiring. I take the check, I put it in my folder and I’m walking outside and he says Rubin, stop. I said what he says are you packing, are you carrying a weapon? I said no. He says give me my check back.
Speaker 3:
I said why?
Speaker 2:
And he said you know, I spent 30 years in the cruiser. And here’s the thing, when seconds count, we are minutes away and you, my friend, friend, look like a target, you drive a volvo, you wear a nice suit, you have a nice watch, your shoes, that queen, you know? He said, if I wanted to hit somebody for some cash, you would be the first person out of the whole crowd.
Speaker 2:
and um, after that you know I really thought about it and I went to bill and I said, bill, can you teach me about weapons? And he actually took his whole collection and he put it in the truck and we drove out into this. You know it was a federal land and he explained everything to me and he was my client for a really long time. I would come to their place and his wife would say, well, he’s in the garage and I would go down. One time I went down to the garage and I just walk him. I know where he’s at and he was into something. But I walked up behind to him and they called his name and next thing I was looking at the, you know, a barrel of a gun pointing in my face and I was yelling, bill, this is labime. And you know he came back and he told me, look, don’t ever do it again.
Speaker 2:
And I think that was my first experience with ptsd. He had a lot of issues and he was a tough guy. You know, like he said, men need help more than women, because men will never ask for that help. Sometimes you can. You know they’ll break and they’ll die, but they will not go out and ask for help and Bill was fortunate enough to find a doctor. It was an annual checkup and she said look, it’s like for almost 30 years you’re a productive member of society. You haven’t hurt anybody, you haven’t killed anybody. So just tell me what’s going on in your head. Nobody’s going to put you away. And he told her and it was I think it was 2011, maybe 2010, 2011 and there was a huge uprising in the States that veterans are not being taken care of. We had a lot of guys coming back from. You know you have Afghanistan, you have Iraq and they’re coming back with these PTSD issues and we’re having these outbursts. And you know the society was just pervolved. And you know the Sicily was just put a bolt and you know when, when, when we rise up the government, they start running and hustling and they basically passed a lot of new laws and Bill got into the streamlined process that they approved him. They gave him I think it was 110% disability back, paid from the day he came back and they gave him a pension with 10 years after he passes away, he went to his wife.
Speaker 2:
So, like I really saw in one person how one person can go through like decades of suffering, living with his issues inside of his own head, being a tough guy and, you know, just really keeping it inside and not letting it out. It came out as anger. Know. They told me that I’m the first plan. He said you’re the first financial guy who walked out on out of my house on his own and I was like what? He says yeah, ask Joyce, his wife, and says yeah, normally he throws them through the door, through the window. You know they always said you are the only one, but I spent many years with that couple and they really, like the veterans, can function in our society. They can be super productive, but they’re really living in this silent hell. It was my first introduction.
Speaker 2:
Now I’m going to fast forward to 2016, when I was working in Ukraine, and that’s basically. You know. I spent 23 years in the States working, no vacations. I think it was more than 10 years where I went without weekends. Just you know, I allowed on Sundays to take a few hours off so I would go out to the park and walk my dog when it’s daytime and, just you know, not work. And then, finally, I reach all my goals and now it’s time for me to make money and, you know, capitalize on, you know, riding the best fella with Steve Forbes and speaking at the UN with Brian Tracy, and then I find myself in Ukraine and the war in Ukraine started in 2014. 2022, the full scale, but 2014,. They annexed Crimea. Nobody said anything, but there was fighting going on.
Speaker 2:
You know, on the eastern side, and I got an opportunity to I did an internal audit for an oil and gas company. It was a nationwide infrastructure company that had more than 90 gas patients all over the country and basically, after spending their two months, they asked me can you stay and fix it? Because when I presented what I found out, it was obviously going to have to get rid of top management and it’s really hard to do it. You know, when you’re replacing top management in the States, you have a huge pool of candidates, but it’s extremely difficult to find the right person. And here we are, third world country, in the middle of war. You’re not going to find anybody.
Speaker 2:
But people were looking at me like I was their last hope. You know, like when I came in, everybody would like get energetic. They wanted to try whatever you say. They want to try it. You know, let’s work more and we’ll work for less, but just so the company survives, and they asked me to stay and I agreed without really thinking as much as they needed to, and once I was staying, I found out that the war is real. It’s really going on and we’re getting to this point where I was with one of our guest patients that was by the highway and I see this guy without two legs rolling out from our store and he’s going towards the highway and I’m looking and I’m thinking like there’s no pedestrian walk, forget about place for a wheelchair.
Speaker 2:
And I really clearly looked at this guy and I felt like where is he going? Then I went on with doing my work and it wasn’t. 20 minutes later a huge storm came and it was like a big cold thunderstorm with lightning and wind, and it’s just like this. This wind, you know that it goes like it’s not falling down, it’s going sideways. And I thought about that guy and, uh, you know one of the things when you work for nationwide infrastructure companies that you have a huge auto park and they called our auto park and they said I need a pickup truck here now.
Speaker 2:
And you know it came really fast and we got in the truck and we drove towards where the guy went and we found him on the side of the road. He was completely covered in rain, mud and you know he’s just in really bad shape. But we put his wheelchair in the back. He went on the inside of the car and, like I don’t know if you’ve seen people like somebody, if you clean them up and you feed them, you know there’s not much life left, like it’s all, like he’s burning the last energy that he has inside of him. So we drove him where he needed to go. We got him cigarettes, some food, and I really think I think about this guy a lot and I think that may have been the last act of kindness that he’s seen on this planet. So it was 2016. And then 2022, when the full-scale invasion started. I saw a teenage girl walk out in front of a fully packed stadium and she said um, they can take part of our land and they can even take part of my body, but they can never break me and
Speaker 2:
you have to see the reaction of you know a full stadium when you have a. I am not a girl, but girls sometimes they have a pimple in the sand of the world. And here we have somebody who lost. She lost her leg and she volunteered. Nobody made her she’s a teenager, nobody will draft her and she actually had to do a lot of work to get there. And then she got there and she lost her leg and now she’s inspiring people.
Speaker 2:
That was the moment that they knew that I’m done thinking that I should do something and I’m going to do something. And then it came. It actually, once I started doing it, it took over everything and it became the only priority. And they really cannot imagine, because you know, every mission needs funding and for two years I was trying to get it off the ground to show people what it would be like when it’s working, because when you talk about what you’re going to do, nobody really cares. But I knew like if it and when it works, then people will join. That would be relatively a lot easier once the things are working.
Speaker 2:
So you know, um, yeah, so for two years I tried to get it off the ground and now it’s running and I really thought about going back to the states. You know, because I have a really long you read my brand on sentence. I never talked about my accomplishments to anyone because I did it all for me. A lot of my clients did not know that I went to the olympics and then there was some big event and somebody would mention it like how, we know you for like more than 10 years. Why didn’t you tell us?
Speaker 3:
I said, yeah, exactly right because it’s it’s not who you are, it’s your first it was done for me, yeah it’s your first act, you know, like we all have first acts in life, you know, but it’s not who we end up being like. What really lights us up is the purpose that we finally find halfway through our journeys and then we say, oh, this is why we were created, this is what my light is all about. And once you find your light, the stuff that you did before, the big stuff that you did they kind of dims in the light is it okay if I make an example, but because you said it’d be perfect opening for, like, how our accomplishments become relative.
Speaker 2:
So imagine I was born in the former soviet union in the 70s, like I grew up during the Cold War. The picture of the United States for me was President Reagan sitting in his office and he has this red button and he can go boom, just press the red button and we’re all dead. Okay, and then they end up going to a place that I thought that wanted to exterminate me because they’re Americans and we’re the Soviets. It’s me, because you know they’re americans and we’re the soviets. It’s perpetual, you know perpetual enemies. And then I find myself in the place that is just like it was like a soil, for you know, I was like, I was like a plant that was placed in the most productive soil and I, like grew, was little bush and then I became a tree and you know it’s just. It’s just this amazing opportunity. Imagine I go. I was 17 when they came to the space. I wanted to go to the olympics. I got to do that. I wanted to work in the world trade center I got to do that, and then a lot of other things you know that I didn’t even know about. Like people write books, and you know there’s some famous people that would want to have my name in the same line with them. It’s a big deal. And then I’m fast forwarding to this year, to April. We’re talking about April 9th to 19th. It was when we had our last.
Speaker 2:
The way the program is structured originally was just take the veterans out of their environment, place them in a different country, different environment, because I want them to know that they can travel, even if they’re missing legs. They can go from country A to country B and they can enjoy, they can learn new things, they can move around, they can meet people that really want to Like, when you bring an amputee to any country in Europe, they know exactly where those guys and girls are coming from and that’s a visual sign that people wake up. You know it wakes people up. So first it was seven days. Now they asked they need a few more days. They said look, we leave in the morning, we come back after midnight. Can you please give us a break? Can we like spend three days just sleeping by the pool and quiet? So we relaxed and I said okay.
Speaker 2:
So this year, april it was April 9 to 19. We had one amputee and we had one death veteran he’s. He had a hand grenade explosion next to him and they stitched his ear. This year is like completely stitched, so that guy finished. So that guy finished fighting less than two weeks ago and he just came as a fan of the guy who was the amputee but he was so traumatized all he wanted to do is he wanted to stay inside and dream. And I asked him. I said, look, we have these events, you got to show up. And we had breakfast where all the volunteers came out and I just told them what it means to me.
Speaker 2:
I think that breakfast was where the soul of the mission came out and we were in a beautiful cafe overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. So it’s like harbor. The clouds are rolling in, it’s spring, summertime and the rain started hitting. We were sitting. It was like a metal roof and when the light rain hits it, everybody relaxes, everybody’s enjoying it.
Speaker 2:
And I look at the guy who’s deaf and he’s like this. He starts going under the table and I walk up to him and I say, look, he’s like this noise. He has the imbalance and pressure in ears and he’s hearing it. It sounds like you know it’s. He says it sounds like we are under attack and said look, you can go outside, just I’ll tell you when to come back.
Speaker 2:
And after that breakfast I told him if you want to stay inside, if you want to drink, that you deserve that. You, just, two weeks weeks out, you can do what you want. You’re not obligated to join in for any activities. And I run, I have chats and they see, this time we’re doing this, this time we’re meeting here, here, here. And I said, if you want to come, you will see it in the chat. We’d love to see you. But if you’re not going to show up, I know that you’re doing your best, you’re trying to come back to life. And he is, is traumatized. I mean, you can tell that there is like to find the real person is so far away. So the next day we had the only photoshoot that I ever had. Most of the things were done just by these hands and with the help of volunteers.
Speaker 2:
And at the time I hired somebody professional to do pictures and this guy comes out and this is, this is the. This is the photo that we took, that on the beach, the guy in the red shirt he cannot hear and the guy is in the middle, he is actually our number one guy. He was the first guy who we flew. He volunteered when he was 20 years old, february 9th. He turned 20 old, february 9th. He turned 20 and the war started 13 days later. So he didn’t have to go. But he went and he said started with drones. And then he said I want to be in the front. I cannot hide behind the backs of civilians. That’s what he told me. And for five months he’s been writing letters transfer me, transfer me, transfer me. Then he gets transferred to an assault brigade and it didn’t take long for him to go down. He was actually his commander went down and he was the closest guy who was going to save his commander and he said I could almost reach him. And he said he just went to reach for his commander and that’s when he got shot in the leg and he actually had the bulletproof vest. He has the bullet stuck right here in the bulletproof vest. So you know that’s our number one guy. But this guy in the red shorts, he actually came out to every single, almost everything that we had big plans. He attended it, he went home, he stopped drinking, he called, he writes me. I well, one thing. I didn’t fly him because he’s so traumatized and we were listeners. I fly paragliders.
Speaker 2:
The whole idea behind wings for heroes was that if you place the person in into like a traumatic experience, this is what sometimes it takes to bring a person who is completely depressed. And now, back to Now. This guy was so traumatized. They said we cannot fly you. It’s not a good idea because if you freak out in the air, I don’t know what to do with you there. I mean, it will take a while, you know, till we land. And they said, okay, we’re not going to fly.
Speaker 2:
Now his friend who’s missing a leg flew, but he didn’t fly, so he goes home, said I haven’t been drinking for a week now I want to come back and fly. Then he writes me I’m checking myself into the VA hospital for 10 days because they really want to get well and they want to come back and see what it feels like flying. And now he’s saying I’m getting transferred for another month and after that I am really coming. So what I’m seeing now, sylvia, is that I, first of all, I see what they’re going through. I understand how traumatized they are. I understand that by giving them room you’re actually not forcing them to do anything and when you give somebody a chance, they normally make a chance. Like you know, they make the right choice, which is I want to participate. I can stay at home and, you know, do all the things, but here I want to go out and I want to meet people and I want to be out and enjoy, you know, the good experiences and with this guy we’re finding out that for him it’s a meaning.
Speaker 2:
You know it’s like look when the war comes to your country, like it did for them, somebody pulled them out of their home. You know it’s like look when the war comes to your country, like it did for them, somebody pulled them out of their home. You know they’re 20, one is 21 instead, one volunteers at 20, the other one goes fighting. He was not 30. Like they’re kids, like I think back, like when I was 23 and 30 and until now, it’s like not one lifetime, it’s many lifetimes.
Speaker 2:
And if somebody who’s so brave. You know who could go and like face the evil, because that stuff is really evil. Somebody attacking your country nonstop rockets, drones, soldiers, tanks, everything. They go out and they place themselves in between peace and war. You know they are the bodies that occupy that space and when it’s over they are really discarded. They just go home and even if the system like in the states, it exists I’ve heard it from more than two veterans who said we survived a war, but I survived the war, but I’m not sure if I can survive the red tape and the va.
Speaker 2:
So when somebody’s traumatized, then you make them refill an application, like filling it out once is too much, but redo something and go for testing and go there like it’s too much for some people because something happened outside and they don’t have the energy and they cannot concentrate. That is gone. That is like life that will not come back. Unless they get to experience something Like the being will try to scare them. So they forget about all their losses, at least for a little period of time. And the mission is evolving. Every day we learn something new.
Speaker 3:
You have them going on stage, stage right, to talk about their story. But what other resources, like they, bring them back to a life? What is your mission doing to help them? Because here in the states that you’re right they discard them, they, they take them to war and then these guys come back and they have major PTSD because some of them are in the front lines.
Speaker 3:
My father wasn’t. He was behind, but he was being bombed at nightly in Vietnam and the guy that came in to replace him actually went mad. But one day of bombing and that’s all it took for the guy to go mad. My father had kind of shown him where the trenches were so that when they started bombing, you need to get down there. And he stayed down there. My father was like, hey, it’s done, we need to get back out. And he said, well, let me just take a moment. And my dad said, okay, I’ll meet you up there. And then my father was being transferred out. This was his replacement, so he was a surgeon, a doctor, and they said they found him days later and he had gone mad. He didn’t want to come out and just never, you know, his mind just never came back. And so some people can come back and can be in the States. Now my father had a career. He was a medical doctor already and that’s why they wanted him and that’s why they drafted him in Vietnam.
Speaker 3:
A lot of these guys, their career is the military and when they come back there’s really no resources for them. The Vietnam the VA that was following my father’s case right now already closed won’t give them additional money. Even though the war cost his meningioma and it was documented. They had a whole commission that documented these guys’ journey from like 1967 to whenever 72 or something. Those were the guys that were exposed to Agent Orange and those were the guys that ended up with meningiomas and Parkinson’s disease and they had a whole commission that followed these guys and that tracked how many of those guys ended up with Parkinson’s disease and they gave them some monetary compensation for it. But nothing can really compensate you having a tumor that won’t go away or a Parkinson’s disease that’s degenerative. So your mission, aside from getting them on stage and getting them to empower and believing in them, what other resources are you working on currently to get them back into a normal state of being like to come back into the workforce? Even that’s a tough one.
Speaker 2:
Basically, you know, if you read statistics about ukrainian war right now, you get like some high numbers, maybe 80, of mpt’s that go back to the front lines, to they rejoin the military. The one thing that media is not talking about is that imagine, um, the east part of the country is occupied and destroyed. There is no place to live. It’s been bombed out. There is not one house standing, it’s all in ruins. A man goes to serve and he is getting, let’s say, about $1,000 if they’re fighting on the front line. What that means is that if they’re from the east part, they can their family and kids and they can move them to Kyiv, to the capital. They can afford that. So their family can rent an apartment, they can be in a place that is the most protected, you know, because they get the air defenses mostly concentrated around the capital. So relatively, they’re in safe. They’re in much safer place. The kids go to school, so there’s some kind of I don’t know if you can call it normalcy, but they are functioning and living and then the provider, the defender, loses the limb and if they’re not actively in the service, then their compensation goes to like something funny, like 30 a month. So you go from 1 000 to 30 and then for that amount of money they cannot provide the rental place for their family and they have nowhere to return because it’s all been destroyed. Now these guys that have lost one or two legs they re-enlist again and that’s the reality of what’s going on, that they have no other choice because their family has nowhere to live. So they can sign up or, like volunteer, sign my own death sentence, but you know I am not faced with the fact that I need to move my family forward. So the situation there it’s extreme, like extreme in terms of negatively extreme, and the system is overwhelmed so nobody can really help them.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, they get the prosthetics, it’s great, but the rehab part and the prosthetics, they got that part straightened out. It’s really working. There are funds and there are a lot of organizations that are working. So they will get them to the point where they can walk out. You know, on their prosthetic legs and they’re not completely, you know, like we’ve seen in the movies from World War II, you know no legs, like we’ve seen in the movies from World War two, you know, no less, they’re just like Bumming around and the didn’t even have wheelchairs. So it’s not like that.
Speaker 2:
But once they’re out, once they’re discharged, it’s it’s a complete vacuum. There’s nothing going on there. So the idea of wings for heroes is that like look, it’s just to show that you are important, like there is one organization that remembers you and you are important, like there is one organization that remembers you and there’s one guy and a lot of I organized a lot of volunteers that will for that. For whatever time you spend here, you feel like they feel like kings. They’re treated so well. And the guy who’s here in the middle we found out when he was here in april that he needs one month of physical therapy right now to save his only leg. He’s a big guy, right.
Speaker 2:
He’s putting so much pressure on his only one leg that his muscles are getting smaller and they’re pressing on his sciatic nerve and oh by the way, his dream was to play professionals football or soccer, professional soccer and now he’s playing me soccer and he just became a captain of his team. So when my physical therapist heard his story, she said Labim, he cannot do that, because one movement he can be paralyzed for the rest of his life. If that nerve process on the disc he’s done and we had to bring him, you know, for a month for rehab, but it’s right after the session we had and we basically spend all the resources on having we do one plus one, so it’s one veteran plus a spouse or family member, because it’s the easiest way to find a caregiver. You know, they always know what they need to do when they need to do it and I don’t need to hire people, so it works really well. In any case, I had no idea how I’m going to put it together because we left on the same day.
Speaker 2:
On April 19th, I went to Ukraine and I flew to the United States because I wanted to meet with senators and congressmen. Because I wanted to meet with senators and congressmen. Actually, our governor, we are incorporated. We are a public service corporation in Colorado that’s where my home is. Our governor, governor Paulus, he had a program that he started for veterans to teach them IT after they come back from service so they can go and work in technology. When he became a governor, his company was observed by the VA, one of the programs. I found that out later, but he was the first official the governmental official who gave me an appointment. He said who’s coming? Ludin is coming. How many people do you have? I have only one person and this is what I’m doing, and he actually was open to like really hear about what we’re doing.
Speaker 2:
But on april 19th they went to ukraine, was finished and I went to the states and I am. I went new york, new jersey, colorado, california, and I’m trying to meet people and I I am thinking, okay, I have to bring this guy back for one month and here I am spending money on, you know, moving the mission forward for something that is needed for the future, but for right now, if I fail, this kid like to me. Personally, I thought that this whole mission is just it’s worthless With all the stuff that was done before. If I cannot save on number one’s only leg, then to me it meant that it would be the end. So what I did was I went before going to the states and I printed this card on the back.
Speaker 2:
It says why were you here? And it says that he had to start the 30 day physical therapy in May 2025 to save his only leg. This is not charity. This is a second chance, not just for them, but for all of us. You’re not holding a card. You’re holding a promise that was kept, and I had no idea how I’m going to pay for one month of his rehab and until the last day I came back from the States and I told him look, you’re coming, you’re coming, you’re coming.
Speaker 2:
On Saturday I found money. On wednesday he came and may 29th he started his one month of rehab sylvia last week or week, I don’t even know what we are. Monday yes, it was last week. He got on the bike that’s awesome.
Speaker 2:
That’s awesome I hear somebody’s calling me and I was like what we tried on the stationary? He couldn’t do it. But then he just came to one of the volunteers and said I’m taking your bike. He said just take the helmet, because Lubin will freak out if he sees me without the helmet here. And I said, okay, let’s go. And I turned on the phone and I’m riding with him and he’s pedaling and he’s going, he’s turning around and he’s telling a story. This is the first time since the amputation I tried a motorbike. I fell over five times and he says this is amazing.
Speaker 1:
Now he’s riding everywhere on the bike.
Speaker 2:
He’s completely independent, he’s making his food, he goes to the bazaar with volunteers. What I’m saying is that this mission is just he needs physical therapy, then they need psychologists. I have just he needs physical therapy, then they need psychologists. I have a psychologist. I have acupuncture. I have a swimming coach. Tomorrow a cycling coach is coming and taking him to the next level because he’s really he’s like he wants to go everywhere with that bike.
Speaker 2:
So, you know, this mission is really it was just an idea and taking them flying would be that traumatic, positive experience that will just bring them back to life and having others around. It would be that traumatic, positive experience that will just bring them back to life and having others around. It would be like the camaraderie that they need and that they miss. Just guys sitting with guys on the beach looking at the sunset and you know, not talking or talking or it doesn’t matter. So they’re like, really, they’re like this, like again, it’s like I was placed in the soil in the States. You know, when they grew into this bush, that became a tree. I see the same thing like with these guys when they’re here and my goal is to you know. So this program runs non-stop Because if we have to stop and pause and stop, and it’s just first of all, it’s the most expensive way to run something, when, when you start and stop, start and stop, but when it’s going all the time, there are so many of them that need help.
Speaker 2:
And I wanted to be international. It is an international mission and in November we are going to Torrey Pines, glide Report. It’s right next to the San Diegogo naval base and san diego naval memorial hospital, so there are plenty of people to fly. But they really want to take american veterans and they want to bring them to turkey because, number one, they’ll cross the ocean. And when somebody who had an amputation crosses the ocean and they get to foreign land and they’re functioning here, they get so much. They get that confidence boost. You, you bring the real then back and they’re like, okay, I am in and I can do whatever. And then, from the cost point of view, one week in the States will pay for a month of flying, living, feeding, therapy, you know, just from the cost point of view, like this is just so much more efficient to have them here. And they want them to interact with different countries because they see like they really need it and it’s not.
Speaker 2:
I am glad that I had to do it with my own hands because I know exactly what’s going on. I’ve been to every therapy. I’ve been to you. I’ve been to you know, every swimming lesson, every physical therapy. I’ve seen what they go through. Now I’m learning about phantom pains and it’s like our number one is like the coach is saying he’s like not breathing today. What’s going on with him? And he says I’m having phantom pains. He said what time do you go to bed? Said four o’clock. I said dude, what are you doing? Yeah, you know, you have a time, do you?
Speaker 3:
go to bed. I said four o’clock.
Speaker 2:
I said dude, what are you doing? Yeah, you know you have a full day, you have to work, and he says I can’t. He said this leg is hurting, I don’t have a leg, but all night I’m turning, I’m trying to find a spot. Instead, I can’t find a spot. So you know, like by being present and having this opportunity to help them, I learned what they need, and they need a lot.
Speaker 2:
And what they teach us is that, look, some guys have no hands, no legs, nothing. They just floss all their limbs. One specific example no hands, really high amputation on the leg. He has one leg. He’s 40-something years old, he’s a single father, he has a 17 year old kid and he is, he wants to be back. And that guy’s inspiration to all others. They saying look at him, he like has only one leg and it’s like all is completely gone, there’s nothing left. And the guy is like he’s working, he needs to. You know, he’s his daughter is not old enough, he needs to be there for his kid and he’s going. And everybody’s like, if he can do it, I can do it. Like I just left one leg, it’s no big deal. I am deaf.
Speaker 2:
And they’re really telling you these stories like they really have relativities within their, you know, within their loss, and one thing that you see is that you know, they, they, when there’s a beautiful moment, they always take a picture or make a video and there’s always the same comment I just want to live a little more. I just want to live a little more. You know, it’s like like we look at them and think about oh, they don’t need pity, like we are the ones who needed to be pity. Anybody who’s stuck. Like what you’re doing is so important as a coach is because you can shift the mind of a person who is stuck in their own head and like, imagine like you have two hands, you have two arms, you can hear, you can see, you can taste, you can smell. Well, there’s somebody who has none of that and they cannot walk and they cannot see, and they cannot talk and they have nobody to talk to. But they have something important that they chose to concentrate, like it’s my kid or it’s like for this guy I want to place, I want to be. You know, he’s a captain of his football team.
Speaker 2:
We started writing a book. Because it’s like when you volunteer at 20 and they transfer you. I asked them if you knew today that you would go and you would transfer from drones to the assault brigade, would you do it? What would you do if you had a chance to do it all over? I said I would do the same thing because I could not. Not, my consciousness could not let me stay and hide behind the civilians. So that’s how he sees the world.
Speaker 2:
So like talk about everybody wants the story about resilience. You know like I’m fortunate that people are inviting me on podcasts and they’re asking me about it. I’m gonna tell his story because he’s a kid, he’s a kid and he would do it the same. You know, it’s like to me. I’m like I would say I would think about it. You know, at least I would do the same.
Speaker 3:
And that’s their purpose. And their purpose is that powerful. They’ll do it Like your amputee that has no arms or has one leg and has a 17-year-old daughter. That’s his purpose, his child, and it’s a powerful purpose. And they will go to the ends of the earth to fulfill that purpose for their child because that love is so great.
Speaker 2:
With no arms on one leg he will go anywhere.
Speaker 3:
He would go anywhere. And when you do see that, it is hard to make excuses for yourself. It’s very difficult. I’ve at one point with my father, after he lost everything. Uh, when he had the first surgery, he was at the prime of his career and he didn’t know how to do anything else but do surgery. That’s’s what he was born to do. And his professional life got cut short because right after a 24-hour surgery to remove the tumor, he had a ischemic stroke and lost all ability. He couldn’t move, he couldn’t speak, he couldn’t do anything and get started all over again.
Speaker 3:
And I remember when I stood on stage at Pfizer I used to work with Pfizer pharmaceuticals years ago. That was my first act and I’m standing in front of 300 of my peers and I couldn’t even contain my emotion when I said you know, here I was facing an insurmountable goal to move this territory from dead last to number one in the country. And I had no excuses. When I looked at my father and what he went through, I have no excuses. And when you look at your amputees, we really have no excuse but to get up and go. And that’s where you see where their purpose is powerful or not, when their powerful purpose is driving you, like it’s driving you for this mission.
Speaker 3:
When you saw the joy and the transformation in these veterans because you believed in them and you gave them resources to help them walk again, to help them move again that gave you purpose.
Speaker 3:
There is nothing that can stand in your way for you to like, not bulldoze it over, just to get to the goal of helping these guys, because it’s so powerful within you. It’s what’s driving you and it’s your soul’s purpose. That’s the whole reason why you’re alive here. I mean like, this is why you’re born. This is why you survived 9-11, so that you could work with these veterans, because they need someone that will believe in them, and belief is gold for people who have been through amazing stories like these guys have been through. All they need is someone to believe in them and believe that they can overcome and be resilient, because sometimes we have to borrow other people’s beliefs when we are not in a state of mind to have our own. At the moment, when we’re in dark chapters, sometimes all we have to do is borrow, and you’re that person. For them, they’re borrowing your beliefs.
Speaker 2:
Can I share mine? Sure, can I share who I borrow, okay. Can I share mine? Sure, can I share who I borrow, okay. So this year I knew that I had to go around the world and see how different countries in our societies keep the promises that we made to our veterans. I know we have a really strong program in the United States and I also have seen the limitations of it and I’m wondering if the biggest power or superpower in the world has so many issues and limitations. What goes on in other places? Excuse me? So one of the places I was fortunate to visit was the Red Cross Museum in.
Speaker 2:
Geneva and basically there was a Swiss banker his name was Henry Dunant, who in 1859 was traveling for business to Italy and I think on June 25th he made it to a place called Solferino and on that day there was the Austro-Hungarian army, which was like 170,000 plus. They fought the Imperial, which is French and Italian army I think there were like 140,000, so the numbers were over 300,000 people came on one battlefield and you have this young I think he was like around 30, not even 30 a banker who witnessed the whole battle and he says at the end of the day there were more than 40,000 people who were wounded and dead and there was not one person helping Nobody. They just, you know, wanted each other the whole day and when the day was over, who could walk away walked away, but who couldn’t was left in the field and they were obviously crying for help. So he organized all the villagers At that time they were mostly women and they started pulling the ones who were alive from that massive field and it went on for like days and it filled all the churches and it was like some churches had a thousand people in one church. And he finished that task, he went back to Geneva and he wrote a book which is called the memory of South arena. It’s a little paperback, it’s just a paper book, but it received such a wide recognition that he was able to start the Red Cross.
Speaker 2:
And then, 11 months after he started the Red Cross, they signed the first Geneva Convention and the Geneva Conventions. They were the ones that stipulate how we treat prisoners of war, injured soldiers and also innocent bystanders, because unfortunately, when the war comes it touches everybody, you know, even civilians, and especially civilians. So because one man his name is Henry Dunant, who was a young, young banker, he could not look away from that horror and you know face that the men fighting for their country and then, at the end of the day, they are left just suffering in the field and nobody is helping them. One guy could not look away. And today we have the Red Cross that has more than 11 million volunteers on the ground doing the work. You know, the real people who do the work are the volunteers. I see it with myself.
Speaker 2:
But you know, before me there was one man who couldn’t look away, and I’m thinking on the days like when I had really days where you don’t know how you’re going to make it happen, how you’re going to move the mission, and I’m thinking what would happen if you stop imagine we don’t have the red cross, with all the issues and stuff that’s happening, you know, in corporate, it happens everywhere, but the fact is that that organization is like.
Speaker 2:
talk about humanity, this is like the humanity on earth is the Red Cross that Henry Dunant started and oh, by the way, he was ousted. They pushed him out. He disappeared for more than like 20 years. Nobody knew where he went.
Speaker 2:
And then they found him working in the hospice in Zurich. He was destitute, he didn’t have anything. The hospice gave him a room to live in. The guy who started the Red Cross was pushed out and he was poor. So the message that goes you know, in history is that you can be doing great things and you can be the number one humanitarian in history, but it doesn’t mean that you’re a rich guy. He was not a rich guy, but at the end of his life he was brought back to guy. But at the end of his life he was brought back to Geneva and he received the first Nobel Peace Prize in history for the work he did with starting the Red Cross and spending his life, you know, taking care of people and the last words that Henry Dunant said when he was dying.
Speaker 2:
He said where has humanity gone? He was dying, he said where has humanity gone? Yeah, right now we do need stories how anybody can stop when you have people like that that walk before you.
Speaker 3:
The thing is, we need hope right now more than anything, because right now, when we look around the world, there’s not much hope out, and so your story and the stories out there. That’s why our voice has to be loud and we have to share these stories of hope. Share these stories where people are working in collaboration with each other, are helping each other, are moving through dark chapters together and helping people like veterans, amputee veterans, move through life and actually have a purpose. And I know that your mission is something that is here to stay for you, and I do hope you come back to the States, because we do need as much resources as we can get for veterans, because you’d be surprised, being the number one country in the world and our veterans are very poorly treated, and they are not. They don’t appreciate the sacrifice, the true sacrifice, especially people that have never been to war. They don’t understand what sending people to war look like. And in vietnam, for vietnam, they were drafted. These guys were drafted. They were not given choices and some of our presidents have drafted like they’ve dodged the draft. A lot of them have because they had the means to dodge it, and they had the excuses to dodge it, and I mean across the board.
Speaker 3:
It’s not just the republicans the democrats also have been guilty of this too, you know, and and they can sit there and they can talk from their high level offices, but the truth is they haven’t been in the trenches. If you don’t know what it’s like, you don’t understand these guys, and you understand the, the, the need that they have and the true sacrifice they gave, because to give your life, that is, for the freedoms that you enjoy, it’s a gift like no other. And they do merit to be represented and to be helped when they come back, because they do see things that were the most horrific things to see, like their friends being blown up in front of them. It’s not a it’s not an easy thing for them, and so I bless you, god bless you for missions like yours. I’m so grateful that you exist, that you have worked with these guys, because, sorry, on behalf of my dad, I thank you.
Speaker 2:
Thank you, it means a lot.
Speaker 3:
It means a great deal to me to know that there’s guys out there that will work with them, will believe in them, will help them, you know, pull them up from where, wherever they’re at, and we’ll give them a life and a voice again. So thank you for your mission. We all thank you here in the States and I know that you have shared so much wisdom on our show today. Any last minute words that you want to share before we sign off?
Speaker 2:
I think that the biggest threat that is facing Western society is apathy. I was at NYU, you know, and I’m the last graduating class of last century and I remember this case. When you know and so I think it was sociology they told us about a case it was in New York that the lady was screaming for help at night and it went on for more than half hour and the attacker came back. He left, he came back, people were turning on lights and stuff, you know, and somebody yelled out of the window leave that woman alone. And then the next day, when the police came and they started questioning, there were thousands of people who heard her screaming for help.
Speaker 2:
And when the police asked, why didn’t you call the police I think at that time there was no 911 but they said why didn’t you? It went on for so long. What if the windows were turning on? The apartments were lighting up I was 100% positive that somebody would call the police. So you have a whole apartment block right Blocks in New York City densely populated area, and dozens of people say we heard it, we thought about it, but nobody called. That is one case that made me decide. I didn’t decide in that classroom, but I remember that case for throughout my life and I read a lot about it.
Speaker 2:
And you know, I decided at some point if I see somebody weak, somebody who’s weaker than me and they cannot fend for themselves, I’m stepping in. So, like that decision was made and I think for us it takes a lot more energy a human being, a lot more energy to make a decision than to reach your goal. So, for example, like, yes, some people want to start a business and they want to expand or whatever, and they think about that idea for like years, on and on, and they plan and they they never actually do it. So they spend so much energy on doing, on like thinking about doing something, but once the decision is made, you don’t need to think about it. And then what I want to share is that if you see an old lady struggling and you can just like turn away and, you know, walk another direction, pretend you’re not seeing her. Or if you can see a young guy who is suffering, it doesn’t matter what condition he’s at, but if he’s missing a leg or an arm, maybe he served the United States and fought for the freedom and our ability. Our First Amendment is this is what we are practicing free speech. But it was them who made sure that we can do it.
Speaker 2:
So if you see somebody suffering and you can turn away, it’s called, you know, apathy. And that is the biggest threat. Because if we all stop caring and I’m sorry, but one day you may need help and there’s nobody who’s going to be around, and if you don’t have legs, arms or a voice to speak, just picture that. I don’t want to live in that world. If I’m the only voice and helping hand, I’m not the only one. I have a lot of volunteers. They’re awesome. They’re just 24-7. They’re ready. Big guys need to send a message and they’ll get them, whatever. So if you see somebody in need, you know you gotta help.
Speaker 2:
And last words, probably from the Red Cross, there are three ways we can help. Number one we can donate blood, because there is huge shortage all the time and your blood donation right now is saving somebody’s life Today or tomorrow. It’s that. That’s that’s how big shortage of blood we have. Number two you can volunteer your time and provide service to people who are in need, and the biggest thing that we can do on this planet is actually give our time to somebody who is in need, because we’re not getting that time back and we’re not getting compensated, maybe on an emotional level, but being of service to somebody else is the biggest thing that you can do.
Speaker 2:
And the third big thing you can do is you can financially support people who are doing the work. You know it’s whether it’s rings for heroes, red Cross soup kitchen, it doesn’t matter what it is, but people who are fortunate enough to chase their dreams and be in a position. I don’t have the time, I cannot give you my time. I know what it’s like to work, you know 24 7 every day, but I can write you a check and you got to support those charities. And I’m not a charity, I’m a mission. You know you have to support charities, missions, whatever is important to you financially. So donating blood, providing service by volunteering or financially supporting are the three ways that you can help in our society, and apathy is the biggest threat that’s facing the Western society.
Speaker 3:
No wiser words were ever spoken. Seriously, thank you so much, lubin, for joining us on Released Out Reveal Purpose. If I wanted to reach out to you, would it be wingsforheroesorg? Is that how I reach you?
Speaker 2:
Yes.
Speaker 3:
Okay, I just wanted to make sure that people knew how to find you and if they wanted to write you a check, I’m sure that’s another way of reaching you, if they want to talk.
Speaker 2:
Sylvia, if somebody wants to talk, you hit the contact button and it all goes to me. I don’t sell information. I don’t spam people. You know, I’m the guy who does all the work. I’m the one who schedules, who coordinates, who drives and picks them up. I do everything, and that includes talking to people who are interested, you know, in supporting the mission or learning more about it.
Speaker 2:
The story is on the website. The videos are out there. We are an open-source organization. If you’d like to come and see how we do it, please come.
Speaker 2:
You will have the best time of your life. You’ll spend time with the most incredible people and you’ll see, like man, I wish I lost the lag, if I can have that strength to find it, but I don’t need to. I just saw it in somebody else. Somebody did it. You see it in kids, guys, women, especially. Now I see double MPT woman. We have our senator from Illinois, senator Duckworth. She is with her helicopter, was hit in Iraq, she lost two of her legs and now she’s a senator for Illinois.
Speaker 2:
That’s what I’m talking about. This is the example that they set for us. You can go all the way to the top and we people who are healthy and able-bodied. The only issues we have is a mental issue. You know something the limiting beliefs and that’s Sylvia who can work with you. Know something limiting beliefs and that’s still there. We can work with you on those limiting beliefs, because they’re nothing but a belief, and you can flip them like that right yes, like this and you are new person, you’re seeing a different perspective and you’re saying you know what? I can’t. I’m good, I made the decision, I’m going, I decided I’m gonna get it done. And that’s how you get it done you decide and you go.
Speaker 3:
Absolutely, and I couldn’t agree more. And so, for the rest of the listeners of Released Out Reveal Purpose, always remember Matthew 514. Be the light, have a wonderful week, stay safe. Thank you all. Bye now.
Speaker 1:
So that’s it for today’s episode of Re doubt reveal purpose. Head on over itunes or wherever you listen and subscribe to the show. One lucky listener every single week who posts a review on itunes will win a chance in the grand prize drawing to win a 25 000 private vip day with sylvia worship herself. Be sure to head on over to sylviaworsham.com and pick up a free copy of Sylvia’s gift and join us on the next episode.