Undaunted There are five quadruple amputees who survived their injuries from the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars– Travis Mills is one of them. 5 40 p o r t l a n d monthly magazine personalities I f you ask Travis Mills about the word hero, he’ll tell you that it doesn’t apply to what happened to him. “I just had a bad day at work.” That bad day came on April 10, 2012, during his third tour in Afghan- istan. Mills dropped a bag on the ground by his side, setting off an Improvised Ex- plosive Device (IED). In that moment, his life changed forever. There are five quadru- ple-amputees who survived their injuries from the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars–Trav- is Mills is one of them. Over the next 19 months, Mills re- learned how to live. Returning to the U.S., he faced the long road to recovery at Wal- ter Reed Military Medical Center in Mary- land with his wife, Kelsey, and daughter, Chloe, by his side. Those early days were dark and difficult. Mills suffered from se- vere phantom limb pain as he healed and then learned to adjust to life with four pros- thetic limbs. Mills told his wife to take their assets and start a new life without him. She refused. Slowly, he began to find his way. Chloe, just six months old at the time, be- came his guiding light. “When I got injured I was pretty down on myself, unsure whether I could still be a productive father and husband. Seeing my daughter every day made life better.” Mills strapped Chloe in a wheelchair with him, and the two visited other families around the hospital. He came to be known as the Mayor of Building 62. “My daughter is one of the biggest rea- sons I was able to get better. We got to learn how to walk together.” Finally, Mills and his family were able to return to Manchester. After all the support they’d received at Walter Reed, Travis and Kelsey felt compelled to pay it forward. The two considered launching a care-package charity for deployed soldiers. By Julia tolstrup Thissummer,56woundedvet- eransandtheirfamiliesvisited theMaineChanceLodgeand Retreatforitsinauguralseason.