War veteran Tim Horton was only 20 years old when his left leg was amputated below the knee. According to CNN, he was on his first deployment in Iraq with the Marine Corps when a bomb exploded under the Humvee he was driving.
Like Horton, 26-year-old Brian Taylor Urruela was on his first deployment in Iraq when the vehicle he was in was hit by two bombs. He had his right leg amputated after 36 failed surgeries.
But watching these two men run -- yes, run -- around a softball field with the agility of seasoned athletes, it quickly becomes clear that they have managed to overcome the darkest of tragedies, proving that anything is, indeed, possible.
Horton and Urruela are members of the Wounded Warrior Amputee softball team -- a team composed of Army and Marine combat veterans who have lost limbs while serving in Afghanistan and Iraq, Fox News reports.
The Warriors -- most of whom rely on prosthetic limbs -- partake in dozens of celebrity and exhibition charity games every year to raise awareness for wounded military veterans, modern prosthetics and to prove that "life without a limb is limitless."
In January, The Huffington Post reported that the Warriors had beaten tremendous odds to soundly defeat an all-star softball squad that included former pro and college players 23-8 in Tampa, Fla.
The Wounded Warriors impressed crowds yet again on Tuesday when they competed against a team of local celebrities in the Wounded Warrior Amputee Celebrity Softball Classic held at Nationals Park stadium in Washington D.C., MLB.com reports.
"This is the way we're appreciating the people who have risked their lives to preserve the freedom of this country," said Mayor Vincent Gray, who was there as a player on the celebrity team, which included NFL Hall of Famer Darrell Green and ESPN's Tony Reali.
About 10 players competed for the Warriors, including Horton, Urruela and Josh Wege, who is the team's only double amputee. Twenty-two-year-old Wege lost both legs below the knee after being hurt in Afghanistan three years ago.
When Wege's father saw his injured son playing softball with the Warriors for the first time, he said he was overwhelmed with joy.
"The first time we got to see him play with these incredible ballplayers, I couldn't see the field because I was crying too much," Dave Wege said in January. "It was such an emotional thing because at that point we knew that Josh was not only back, he was stronger than before in so many ways."
The Warriors would likely agree -- stressing that they have refused to allow their disabilities to slow them down.
"We got severely injured, but we're back out doing stuff now," Horton, now 28, told CNN.
"We're not fragile. We're not going to break," Urruela added. "Don't be sorry for me -- it's a little hiccup, but it's not going to keep me down."
And after crushing the able-bodied celebrity squad 17-4, it's unlikely that anyone would claim otherwise.