Travis Mills woke up to a life-changing shock on his 25th birthday. He found himself in a German military hospital having lost all four of his limbs to a devastating bomb blast in Afghanistan. In that moment, Mills became the fourth quadruple amputee veteran ever to survive his injuries.
In the days that followed, Mills lost his remaining two limbs and faced the daunting prospect of learning how to become mobile again.
The stoic survivor endured 19 months at the Walter Reed Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, but while Mills’s body had all the healing in the world to achieve, his spirits remained buoyant. Mills was even philosophical about his condition. “Not a lot of dads learn to walk with their daughter, but I did,” he shared.
Mills’s baby daughter Chloe was just 6 months old at the time. Bolstered by his loving family, the veteran made an extraordinary recovery against the odds. He learned to walk again with the aid of prosthetic limbs and quickly turned his efforts toward a brand-new venture.
Travis and his wife, Kelsey, put a bid on a huge, dilapidated property in the Belgrade Lakes region of Maine that would allow them to fulfill their dream project. The impressive estate was a 16-room property, previously owned by cosmetics pioneer Elizabeth Arden, that had fallen into disrepair.
“We were the lowest bid,“ Travis shared. ”But the guy that was selling it believed in our mission, so he took our offer.”
And so the “Veterans Retreat” was born. After Mills’s foundation raised a staggering $2.75 million in donations, the family man was able to fully restore the historic 11,000-square-foot vacation house in compliance with ADA standards. The majority of the donations, Mills shared, came from “everyday proud Americans.”
Online retailer Wayfair, which employs a huge number of veterans in its staff, kindly donated every single piece of furniture in the home, plus décor, art, and labor. The Millses’ dream was that the Veterans Retreat would become a place for military families with special needs to relax, enjoy the space, meet, and support one another. They would do so without paying a cent.
“We understand what these families have been through,” Mills explained. “These vets don’t have to live life on the sidelines and watch their families do things. We’re grateful for their service and the sacrifice they’ve made,” he continued. “We just wanted to create this place that really felt like home.”
Mills’s wife, Kelsey, reminded their loyal followers that love and dedication are at the core of everything they do. “I don’t know how you can leave somebody you love when they’re so hurt,” she shared, speaking of her husband’s devastating injuries and his long, long journey of recovery.
