PICATINNY ARSENAL, N.J. - At first glance you would not know that John Dermody served as an artillery officer in the U.S. Army.
At 46 years of age, he sports a thick graying beard and owns little to no photos of him in uniform. His enlistment began in the infantry and later becoming a Field Artillery Officer after going through Officer Candidates School, eventually reaching the rank of Major.
Dermody's role as an artillery officer has led to a number of military experiences, including his employment at Picatinny Arsenal, where he was assigned to the Paladin program for more than eight years.
But while his training and work also brought an influx of challenges, chances are what grayed Dermody's beard the most were his personal, unfortunate experiences with Lady Luck.
Unlucky with Lady Luck
"In March of 2010 my wife died," Dermody said with tears in his eyes about Michelle, his wife, who experienced epileptic seizures that worsened after previously being hit by a drunk driver.
"She had epilepsy before I met her." Dermody said who met Michelle on a blind date in 2001. "People would ask me 'John are you crazy getting involved with her' But I didn't care. You can't hide love. At least I can't."
A few months later, Lady Luck struck again as Dermody's father passed away. And, by August 2012, the program Dermody was working on became defunded and landed him in the unemployment line.
"I wanted to die," Dermody admitted. "But, I decided to honor promises I made with Michelle. She had brought me back to my faith and then she was taken away from me, so I felt the only thing I could do was to keep my promises."
Some promises that Dermody made with Michelle were simple, such as replacing his car, which the couple had racked up 250,000 miles on.
Others were more difficult, including finding ways to regain his happiness and dating other women.
Still, one promise that Dermody was eager to try first was losing weight as he lost about 100 pounds in a year by eating healthy and taking up a new hobby: running.
"Running is medication for me. In grief, cardio is your friend," Dermody said.
Run John Run
Since January 2011, Dermody has run in over 11 events, including the Army 10-Miler, two Warrior Dashes, and a Tough Mudder, a popular run combined with obstacle courses that are designed to test your strength, stamina, mental grit and camaraderie.
But in November 2012 Dermody experienced one of his toughest runs yet.
"I was running the Battleship North Carolina Half-Marathon," Dermody explained. "If you complete it in two hours and 45 minutes, a Marine in his Dress-Blues (uniform) presents you with a medal and salutes you and I wanted that bad."
When Dermody felt a sharp pain in his foot during the event, he thought the pain would go away. When the pain worsened, though, he took his shoe off only to find that a nail had gone straight up through his shoe and into his foot. Dermody pryed the nail from his foot, but the injury delayed his time, causing him to finish the race at 2 hours and 42 minutes, just three minutes shy of the deadline.
Then, on December 2013, as Dermody was crossing a street, a car hit him, dislocating his knee, severing his medial collateral ligament (MCL), shattering his tibia, spraining his ankle, chipping his elbow, bruising his ribs, and straining his shoulder. The injuries required corrective surgery forcing him to now hobble with crutches.
"I know I will run again," Dermody said. "I just don't know when."
Down But Not Out
Despite his experiences, however, Dermody remains eager to fulfill his promises.
In fact, Dermody said that once he is up and healthier, he wants to do a half-Ironman which consists of a 1.2-mile swim, 56-mile bike race, followed by a 13.1-mile run.
Until then Dermody plans to use his new racing wheelchair to participate in Run-A-Palooza, a half-marathon held toward the end of April in benefit of the Special Olympics, the world's largest sports organization for children and adults with intellectual disabilities.
Dermody's team will be called "A New Life."
"I had to come up with a new life when my wife died," he said.
He also plans to focus on his new contract position with Universal Technical Resource Services (UTRS) as he has since returned back to Picatinny in support of the U.S. Army Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center (ARDEC).
"[Michelle] was an amazing example to me of never quitting. She never quit and she taught me that when you have problems, to take your eyes off your problems, and help others," Dermody said, adding "I am living my life to earn the right to be with my wife again."
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