Barreling down a snow-covered mountain at almost 60-miles-per-hour is what Trey Humphrey does for fun. Humphrey, who lost his right leg during a combat deployment with the Marine Corps in Afghanistan, has competed in the last two Winter X Games. A University of Nevada, Reno business student, Humphrey not only hopes to earn a degree to make himself more marketable to employers, but also to give back after graduation.

A Reno native, Humphrey was a student at the University in 2001 before joining the Marine Corps in 2005.

"So many people have helped me, it would be nice to be in a position to help that next generation," Humphrey said. "Joining the Marine Corps and then coming back to school gave me a whole new appreciation for the university setting. Instead of dreading going to class and having homework, I'm excited to get up in the morning and go to class. School is the easiest thing I've done in the last decade."

Since his return to the University, Humphrey has spent time around the Nevada Wolf Pack athletics program. He's spoken with a number of the student athletes hoping to inspire others with his story.

"Hearing Trey talk about all of the things he endured while serving our country was overwhelming and inspirational," Don Jackson, senior running back for the Nevada Football team, said. "It gave myself and the team a true definition of the words grit and hero. I'm thankful for his service to our country and for the opportunity to meet him."

After completing two combat tours in Iraq and one non-combat tour in Southeast Asia, Humphrey was not meant to deploy again. But when his squad was called up in 2010, Sgt. Thomas "Trey" Humphrey deployed to Afghanistan for his final combat tour.

Humphrey's squad was on rest Nov. 9, 2010 in Sangin Valley, Afghanistan, when his friend from another squad stepped on an improvised explosive device that did not fully detonate, but broke his ankle. Humphrey volunteered his squad to help get his friend to safety.

When Humphrey and his squad got to the area where his friend was hurt, they were pinned down by machine-gun fire and could not move his injured friend to a safe zone.

During this rescue, Humphrey stepped on an IED, which fully detonated. The force from the blast flipped him into the air and he landed back down into the crater left by the detonation.

"I looked down and saw that my right leg was gone and my left leg was chewed up pretty good," Humphrey said. "And I just thought, ‘Well, that's actually not as painful as it looks.'"

The pain didn't set in for Humphrey until members of his squad were tightening the tourniquets to lessen the bleeding on both legs. After being removed by helicopter from the combat area, Humphrey was put into a medically-induced coma. He woke up two weeks later in Walter Reed Hospital in Washington, D.C. His then fiancé Lindsey was at the hospital when he woke up.

"Once I realized where I was and what had happened, I was super angry," Humphrey said. "I had been a skier my whole life and all of the sudden I had my legs taken away from me. Then I felt like I let her down, like I let my squad down."

Humphrey underwent 26 surgeries during his first month. Most of these surgeries were done on his left leg, where the tissue and muscle on his shin had been lost from his knee to his ankle.

Humphrey was released from the hospital in February 2011 and he and Lindsey moved to San Diego where he continued going to about six medical appointments a day. These included a myriad of therapies such as wound care, mental health and physical rehabilitation.
Four months after returning to the U.S., Humphrey took a recreational therapy trip with Achieve Tahoe to Alpine Meadows Ski Resort, where he learned to mono ski.

"It was pretty eye-opening," he said. "I felt normal again."

Learning to mono ski was no problem for Humphrey. During a trip with Disabled Sports USA, he traveled to Breckenridge, Colorado, where he met Barret Stein, the then U.S. Paralympic Development Team coach. Stein watched Humphrey ski and invited him to train full-time with the team in Aspen. After training and improving in mono skiing throughout 2012 and part of 2013, Trey and Lindsey moved back to Reno May 2013.

In the 2016 Winter X Games in Aspen. Humphrey placed fifth overall out of 18 skiers in the Mono X event with a time of 1:16:575. Last year, he placed sixth out of 12 in the same event.

Humphrey and his wife Lindsey have two boys; a two-and-a-half-year-old and a nine-month-old. He is set to graduate from the University in spring 2017. In addition to his academic pursuits, Humphrey plans to return to the slopes for the 2017 Winter X Games and continues to train in the gym and on the slopes.

"Treys focus and drive is to prove to himself that there is nothing he can't do," Lindsey said. "No matter where he has been in his recovery, he is constantly pushing himself to be a better athlete, father and husband."