Local Paralympian & Admired Veteran Returns to West Michigan

Our Family® Brand Spokesperson Melissa Stockwell Visits Patients and Staff at Mary Free Bed

Melissa Stockwell, West Michigan native and three-time medal winning Paralympian, brought her story back home thanks to a partnership with SpartanNash and Our Family®. She visited patients and hospital staff at Mary Free Bed and lead a keynote speaking engagement, which was broadcasted live on the Mary Free Bed Facebook page.

Melissa was a first lieutenant with the United States Army in Iraq before losing her leg in a roadside bomb, making her the first female soldier to lose a limb in the Iraq War. Following her recovery, she became a prosthetist, and then the first Iraq veteran to be chosen for the Paralympics. Since then, she’s become a three-time medal-winning Paralympian, author and motivational speaker.

Melissa is the spokesperson for Our Family brand, the flagship private label brand of local food solutions company, SpartanNash. Mary Free Bed and its Wheelchair and Adaptive Sports programs is one of Our Family® brand’s legacy nonprofit partners who has received sponsorship through Our Family Cares® program. Together, Our Family and Mary Free Bed are proud to have introduced Melissa to the Mary Free Bed Grand Rapids campus.

Melissa toured the rehabilitation hospital and prosthetics facilities. She shared her story in a speech that included in-person guests and was livestreamed for the public. She also joined a breakout group with patients at Mary Free Bed, hospital clinicians working in limb loss, and adaptive athletes. Afterwards, Melissa made a visit to SpartanNash headquarters to speak with associates and visited the Mary Free Bed handcycle team.

“We’re so excited to partner with Our Family to bring Melissa back to West Michigan,” said Scott Riddle, vice president, Mary Free Bed Orthotics & Prosthetics + Bionics. “Her incredible story serves as an inspiring testament to our patients and staff in their own journey of rehabilitation.”

Melissa is passionate about these events. Her own non-profit, Dare2tri, works to remove barriers in sports and create a community for all athletes, regardless of ability. That effort aligns with the Mary Free Bed mission to restore hope and freedom through rehabilitation and the Our Family Cares grass-roots initiative to help make our communities better places to live, play and grow.

Media coverage of her visit included WXMI FOX 17 and WOOD TV8.

Watch her speech to Mary Free Bed patients and staff in the video below: