KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Seven years ago, Marine veteran Rob Jones was learning how to walk. In 2010, he was serving as a combat engineer in Afghanistan when his life changed forever.
"I was attempting to find a route through an IED area, and the IED found me first and that resulted in double above-knee amputations," said Jones.
After slowly adjusting to life with two prosthetic legs, Jones has since medaled in the Paralympics and rode a bike cross-country.
"I wanted to get out there and show a story of a guy that had a traumatic experience in Afghanistan and didn't let it destroy his life," said Jones.
Now, in 31 cities in 31 days, he will be running 26.2 miles each day. On Monday, Jones ran his 12th marathon at Berkley Riverfront Park.
"I'm doing it for my brothers so it's not particularly challenging when you're doing something for a reason," said Jones.
Jones starts his trek every morning at 7 o'clock, rounding out his journey shortly four hours later, and it’s off to the next city. He said the people he meets at the starting line are what keep him going strong.
"It's the greatest compliment I could receive, to have somebody come down and want to run with me, and you know, be willing to endure some pain with me on behalf of veterans," said Jones.
The goal is to raise money for veterans’ charities along the way. So far, he’s raised more than $80,000 and hopes to reach $1 million.
"I'm happy to be chipping away at it. I'm happy that more and more support, the support is growing and that the message is getting out there," said Jones.
After Kansas City, Jones will head for Denver, Colorado, running 26.2 miles starting early Tuesday morning.
