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A quick note of warning: this story includes references to suicide/self-harm.
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KSHB 41 is committed to sharing your stories, and that includes hearing the voices of people making a difference.
In the latest installment of my series, "Making a Difference," I'm honored to share the story of a metro man who's using fitness training to inspire and support others.
ANTHONY'S STORY:
For Anthony Madonia, the gym is more than just a place to lift weights and build muscle. It's a place to build confidence and community.
"They're going to see dramatic transformations in the way they look, feel, and function. It's pretty awesome!" he exclaims with a broad smile.
As we sat down with him inside the gym he founded 10 years ago, dubbed Brave Enough CrossFit, it became apparent this space serves as his "happy place."
Part of that comes from his passion for CrossFit and helping others achieve fitness goals. It's a journey that began when he first discovered CrossFit around 2008.
"I did my first workout and totally got my butt kicked, which, I thought I was in shape! And then, after that, I just never looked back," he recalls with a laugh.
And since then, he's brought countless others along for the ride.
"The way he draws people in and he is open arm with anybody and everybody!" boasts his friend and former client Zac Ansaldo. "As long as you come in with a good attitude and you're ready to work hard, he'll take you in and love you like family."
But Anthony doesn't work so hard with his clients for the praise or the pats on the back. It's actually much more personal.
"CrossFit impacted my life dramatically," he said. "It literally changed everything. I'll be perfectly honest, after the Marine Corps, I was like many veterans that struggled. I was just trying to find my sense of purpose."
He said he entered the service in 2003 after finishing high school.
Anthony was deployed to Iraq.
There, he saw things he says most people can't even fathom, including losing a friend in an IED incident.
"I started noticing things were starting to get hard," he said.
Then, he suffered the loss of another friend. That friend survived the war and made it home, only to lose his battle with PTSD.
"In 2012, my best friend committed suicide, so I had to come home for that," he recalls. "So I left my last duty station to come home and bury him, and after that, I just realized I'm not okay."
Anthony's workouts helped keep the darkness at bay, but eventually the workouts weren't enough.
"After I lost my best friend to suicide, I was actually in a barracks room on Camp Pendleton, with a pistol in my hand. So, I came close.... and that day, I just remembered how much it hurt to lose my best friend in the same way. And I'm like, I'm not going to do that to my family," he admits, choking up at the memory he says remains vivid to this day.
He recalls it was in his darkest hour, alone in California, another friend and fellow veteran told him there was light to be found.
It was back in Kansas City with an organization called, "The Battle Within."
"He says, 'Anthony, if you come back to Kansas City for a week and you go through this program, I promise you, you will feel better than before you went through the Marines.'" "And I was like, 'There's no way, like too many bad things have happened.'" "And he's like, 'You gotta trust me."' "And I come home in 2023, Anthony begins with a long pause, blinking back tears before finishing, "He kept his word."
Anthony says his week with The Battle Within had a profound impact on his life.
According to the group's Executive Director, Justin Hoover, that's a common sentiment among participants.
"So, we're really good at training civilian soldiers, we're really good for programming ourselves for war," Hoover said. "But there's really no deprogramming from that. A lot what we do is to really provide that emotional regulation skills to offset and really deprogram and allow people to really take what normal civilian life brings them."
The retreat, located in Parkville, caters to veterans and first responders who are suffering from PTSD.
"We have our labyrinth walk, which is a walking meditation," Hoover said. "We have our ceremony for the dead. You know that's a very powerful ceremony that allows the grieving to happen. And then we have our leap of faith. It's a 40-foot telephone pole that you're hooked into. You climb up to the top, and you leap toward that new life."
The symbolic exercises might sound simple, but Anthony says it was the war detox he desperately needed.
"When I say that organization changed my life, like I'm 100%. I mean, I became a different person. So I came back, I built this CrossFit gym." Anthony exclaims, gesturing around at the wide space surrounding him.
He also found a way to combine the two, putting together a CrossFit competition called "Battle of the Brave," with all the proceeds going back to "The Battle Within" and another nonprofit called CreatiVets, also helping veterans with PTSD.
Every year for the past ten years, while athletes competed against the clock to see who could perform the most pull-ups, burpees, barbell jump overs and more, Anthony has helped others who've been carrying what feels like the weight of the world on their shoulders.
"You're not broken, don't quit, things can get better. You just have to ask for help!" he exclaims.
Anthony estimated he's raised over $60,000 in the last decade for both nonprofits.
Reminder: If you, or someone you know, is feeling suicidal, there's help available. You can reach someone who wants to help 24-hours-a-day by dialing 988.
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