FORT BENNING, Ga., (Dec. 10, 2014) -- As members of the U.S. Army, Soldiers are challenged every day to be leaders and emulate resiliency. When unforeseen circumstances affect individuals' lives however, remaining strong can be a battle in itself.
Paul "The Punisher" Williams was soaring to the top of the professional boxing world. He was a two-time World Boxing Organization Welterweight Champion, as well as interim WBO Light Middleweight Champion.
In his career, he had 41 wins and two losses.
Williams told Soldiers Dec. 3 in Marshall Auditorium his career came to a halt on May 27, 2012, in Georgia when he swerved to avoid a car while traveling at about 75 miles per hour on his motorcycle.
Williams was launched 60 feet from his bike. The accident left him with a part of his spinal cord severely bruised, paralyzing him from the waist down.
Williams now uses a wheelchair, but said he hopes to walk and even fight again if the swelling on his spinal cord goes down.
Williams said when he woke up in the hospital and was told he was paralyzed from the waist down, he didn't want to live anymore.
"I'm not 'The Punisher' anymore, I'm a half a man," he said. "It was so depressing going through that. Deep down I just wanted to end it."
Facing the challenges of being mad, sad and unable to walk, Williams said he decided it was time to face his biggest problem head on and overcome the two that he could.
He began to get comfortable with the person he was after his accident and regain his sense of humor.
"What I'm doing now is I'm just being myself and showing (my fans) how I live life everyday and how I live with my situation of being in a chair right now."
A Soldier in attendance said he could relate to Williams' situation. Sgt. Chris Daniel, an Infantryman assigned to the Warrior Transition Battalion, said he had a motorcycle wreck where he hit a barrier going approximately 50 to 60 miles per hour and clipped a guardrail. He sustained multiple injuries due to the accident.
Daniel is still able to walk, and said that Williams' story of courage and keeping his head up inspires him.
"It gives me tremendous hope," Daniel said. "I'm able to walk, he wasn't so fortunate."
Williams said he realized he still had purpose in the world, even if, at the moment it wasn't as "The Punisher."
"My way of dealing with it is thinking 'don't worry about it,'" Williams said.
"If you dwell on that, if you put all that pressure and that weight on you, it will break you."
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