Guest Speaker: Jared Estes – April 22nd & 33rd
Saturday Night, 6pm | Sunday Morning, 9:15am & 11am.
It has been said that life is 10 percent what happens to you and 90 percent how you react to it.
Jared Estes’ life is a testament to this theory.
As newlyweds at age 25, Jared, his wife Paige, and two friends were driving home from a hockey game when they were struck by a drunk driver going over 120 mph. This horrific moment changed the course of Jared’s life in ways he could have never imagined. Jared barely escaped death as he suffered 2nd and 3rd degree burns on half of his body. As he began to endure more than 50 surgeries, doctors delivered devastating diagnoses, including a lifetime of pain and loss of functionality. Even worse, his bride of only six months was killed in the crash.
Jared began to sink into a deep depression – he had trouble recognizing himself in the mirror and battled feelings of resentment towards the person who caused this situation. He was truly at a crossroad in his life… torn between giving up and surviving.
With the love and support of his family and friends, Jared was able to find a new perspective that helped him emerge from the darkness. He realized the value of gratitude and forgiveness, and became determined to recover beyond the doctors’ diagnoses. His character was molded as he maintained an optimistic attitude throughout his physical therapy and numerous complex surgeries. Jared had a realization that he could decide to surpass mere survival… he could FIRE BACK.
Jared’s perseverance paid off – he is clearing his bucket list by checking off marathons and sitting in tankers swapping stories with soldiers. His endurance has allowed him to discover his life mission – to help others by sharing his amazing story of tragedy and triumph. Jared realizes that trials and the need for perseverance is not unique to him, rather is it something that we all must deal with in life. His mantra is that there will be times when life will get us down, and kick us while we are down. When that happens, we must not only get back up, but we must FIRE BACK.