Ferreira is running in Sunday’s Army Ten-Miler as the captain of the Missing Parts in Action Team. Matias, 22, lost both legs below the knee in Afghanistan earlier this year and has recovered at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center. He now runs on prosthetic legs. How did you get injured?
I was in Afghanistan for six months until I got injured. I was on patrol; I was a machine gunner setting up snipers on the rooftop. I was hit with an IED when I was coming back from a rooftop and got blown up that way. … That was in January 2011. I don’t have family in this area, but both my Mom and Dad were here while I was injured. I was also here with one of my best friends; he’s also an injured Marine.
How did you decide to do the Ten-Miler?
I ran the Navy Five-Miler [last month] and they came up to me after that and said, ‘Hey how’d you like to try out the Army Ten-Miler and the Marine Corps 10K?’ I thought it was great because it gives me an opportunity to work with wounded veterans — we’re all in the same boat.
How do you adjust to training with prosthetics?
I go running just about every other day. … And I also just use a treadmill [at an incline], anything that will help my endurance. It’s just a little harder to stay in shape. You’re missing those residuals … you’re using the muscles for something different.
What do you get out of helping the team train?
It helps a lot seeing improvement in my fellow Marines and my friends. We all talk and kind of grow and mature off each other. Seeing people succeed and grow is really just amazing.
— Liz Farmer
