When I went to join the Navy the first time, I went to Navy boot camp and I made it all

the way through boot camp and we were about to graduate and my drill instructor comes to

me and says, you've got to go to medical. They found something in your dive physical, and they need to talk to you about it.

So the day that everyone's graduating and going to move on with their dreams and their careers,

I'm walking over to medical.

And I walk in there, and the dive medical officer says, look, Chad, we found you have a paracardial cyst on your heart.

And this is an asymptomatic condition, but it's a rare condition.

And we don't know if when you go down to depth and you're diving as a seal, when you go to depth, we're worried that the pressure change

could potentially burst this cyst on your heart. So he said, we can't let you be a seal.

So in that last moment, when I was about to push forward into accomplishing my dreams, it was all taken from me.

Well, that's not where I had set my goal.

So I'm getting frustrated this whole time, but I've never let go on my dream.

Finally, I find a surgeon here in Atlanta named Dr. Cooper.

That was a combat surgeon.

He had served time overseas on the battlefield with the army.

I'm putting guys back together when they got hurt.

And he understood what I wanted to go do.

He understood that I wanted to go serve my country

and that I had this dream.

So I only remember having one moment of doubt,

and it was on the way to the hospital the morning of the surgery.

And I look at my dad, and I said,

...