A U.S. Marine from San Diego, wounded on her last tour in Afghanistan, talks with NBC 7 about meeting Prince Harry and that hug that was felt around the world.
Sgt. Kirstie Ennis has been getting a lot of attention after images of her and Britain’s Prince Harry were published last week.
Once based at MCAS Miramar, Ennis now lives in San Diego County and made headlines around the world when she posed with the prince on her 1000-mile trek across Great Britain.
It's a journey that began for Ennis in 2012 while she was serving in the U.S. Marine Corps.
“I became an aerial door gunner on the CH 53,” she recalled. “I did two tours in Afghanistan and on my last tour while performing combat operations FOB Now Zad my helicopter went down.”
Injured badly, Ennis returned to San Diego where she underwent 38 surgeries on her face, her spine and her lower left leg at Naval Medical Center San Diego.
Before taking the necessary step to have her leg amputated, Ennis decided she had to make the 72-day journey.
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“I can honestly say the worst days were my favorite,” she said of the hiking trip. “The days that we were climbing the highest peaks in Scotland and Wales and England I was absolutely miserable those were the days I want to break down and cry and second-guessed what I was doing.”
“I mean I never felt so disabled in my entire life,” she said.
Along the way she was joined by people including former NFL football quarterback Dan Marino and children facing adversity.
She was also joined by Prince Harry. Both veterans who served in Afghanistan, they've known each other for sometime
“He's one of the most genuine people that I've ever met in my entire life,” Ennis said.
They hiked together for hours. She says his kindness was likely inspired by his late mother, Diana, Princess of Wales.
“From everything that I know about his mom he definitely has his mother's heart,” Ennis said. “You know she was an angel on earth and I still felt like, that he's following in her footsteps and he's going to carry out everything that she couldn't.”
Harry helped Ennis carry out her mission of placing 25 memorial dog tags along with way.
She made the memorial dog tags for 25 of her military brothers who lost their life serving the country or took their own lives from PTSD related suicide. She placed them with a poem and their story at sights on her journey, so when people came upon them they could read about their sacrifices.
The most important part of this journey for Ennis was to call attention to the many sacrifices of those who go to war.
“Just because somebody comes back and physically they look OK doesn't mean there's not an invisible injury,” she said. “There sometimes traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress can be the most debilitating.”
Despite her injuries the Pensacola, Florida-native is moving forward with the surgery to amputate her leg scheduled later this month.
Then the snowboarder is looking forward to the 2018 Paralympic Games.
She is grateful for the support of the Semper Fi Fund and the Bob Woodruff Foundation among other organizations.
The day after Ennis hiked the 1000 miles and finished her trek. She hiked another 10 to Diana's memorial and place a white rose there.
