GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — “What goes through your head when you hear everything that that you went through?" I asked Francis Sylvester.
He paused, then answered.
"Honestly, it's definitely a miracle."
Simply put — Sylvester shouldn't be here.
“It's a phenomenal story, you know what I mean?" he said. "It was like, 'Whoa,' you know? That was actually me.”
Sylvester's story starts toward the end of his freshman year at the Air Force Academy.
A 19-year-old Sylvester could see his future.
"Why did you want to go into the Air Force?"
This time, he replied quickly.
"F-22's. I was looking as Special Forces and flying fighters," Sylvester said with a smile on his face.
After finals, cadets are given what's known as "96 Hours." Essentially, they can go within 150 miles of campus to relax and have fun.
“We were planning this trip," Sylvester said. "I was with three other cadets in my squadron — three boys."
That's the last thing Sylvester remembers. Then, complete darkness.
Everything, erased — Until six weeks later.
“Being transferred to the Minneapolis VA, I remember the flight out," he said. "The Air Force Twin Otter, (just to) throw that out there.”
Sylvester had no idea what happened. All he knew — he was alive.
“I don't think anybody wishes to go through something like this," Sylvester said.
Everything else you're about to learn is all based on the stories that have been passed onto Sylvester.
The date was May 13, 2022.
Sylvester and his friends were on that trip they planned, hiking on Sangre De Christo, part of the Spread Eagle Peak near Colorado Springs.
Six hours in, the terrain was taken out from underneath Sylvester.
He fell 200 feet off a cliff.
An aerial search ensued.
That's when the first miracle happened.
“One of the cadets I was with using a ski jackets, a great orange coat. So they were, they luckily, they found it on the first pass. The gentleman, I might get this wrong. I think he's been doing eight or nine years. Never has he found the caller on the first pass.”
Then, the next miracle.
“One of the stories the captain shared — he was about a radio in, like, 'Calm it down. We're good. It's just a body recovery.' Then I postured. So, then it's, like, 'Okay, we need to get going.'"
"So they thought you were dead?" I clarified.
"They did.”
Perhaps the biggest one of all came right before the fall. It just so happened to be Sylvester's turn to carry the rucksack, filled with 11 cans of Campbell's Soup.
“The pack and the tents really preserved my spine and my neck more than I can imagine.”
"Sounds like Campbell's Soup saved your life," I joked.
"Yes, it did."
Sylvester went into cardiac arrest three different times, once requiring 25 minutes of chest compressions.
He spent two-and-a-half weeks unconscious in the ICU. He suffered a diffuse axonal brain injury, one of worst kind of Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBIs). He also broke his femur and cut the artery to his leg, ultimately losing most of his right leg.
So yes, he's alive. However, that life will never be the same.
“I understand life is different," Sylvester said. "I loved my path I had. I loved the idea, you know — I was gonna go fly fighters, you know. That was my big challenge... I think my path can still be just as incredible or more incredible.”
Sylvester has been rehabbing at Mary Free Bed in Grand Rapids since October. Initially, he was going there twice a week, but now he only needs to go once a week.
He uses most of his time learning how to walk with a prosthetic.
Lauren Jones, Sylvester's physical therapist, said, “The first couple of days he was in a harness system, just to kind of figure out the ins and outs of the leg, how to propel it, how to use it, where to place it."
Sylvester, a former cadet, now marches past people's expectations.
“He is definitely not the norm," Jones said. "He is above and beyond what the typical patient we see does."
Sylvester doesn't just rehab at Mary Free Bed. He's also training — because on Saturday, he plans on running in the Limb Loss 5k, less than a year after his injury.
“I can appreciate the fact that this timeline is is truly remarkable," Sylvester said.
This weekend's event is so much more than a race, he added.
"Prove to myself that, 'Hey, you still you, still can do everything.'”
This isn't the path Sylvester chose. It's certainly not the one he expected.
He'll never live out his dream of flying fighter jets. One thing Sylvester will do, however, is never give up.