News 12 at 11 o'clock, August 22, 2007

Augusta, GA---A young soldier from Camden, South Carolina who lost her leg in an explosion in Iraq is about to embark on a new journey. News 12 first featured Spc. Crystal Davis in March, when she was completing her physical therapy and rehabilitation at Augusta's Uptown VA Active Duty Rehab Unit.

Crystal had left Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, DC on a walker, and within three weeks of being in Augusta was on her prosthetic full time. At her barracks this past week, she reflected on her healing here. "Come to find out, Augusta was better for me," she said. "It's not necessarily better for everyone, but for me personally, I was closer to home, close to friends, the care here was so much better for me. I enjoyed it. I was fortunate."

And she didn't stop pushing herself either. Now Crystal is thinking of running in the Army 10-miler in October. "The girl that saved my life, Venable, shot me an email that said she wants to run it with me. She doesn't care how long it takes as long as we finish together."

Finishing things is something Spc. Davis knows how to do. She is asking to stay in the Army, so she can go to physical therapy tech school in Texas, and come back to either Augusta or Walter Reed to work. "The main reason is I can still do everything I did before, I want to be able to show other people that come back injured, worse or better than me, they can still do it too," she said.

Davis is not alone on the path to recovery, one she is glad brought her closer to home and to Augusta. She says "God just gives us mountains to climb. It's easy on the flat ground, it really is. But the hills? They'll get you."