While deployed to Iraq as an Army combat medic, Nicole Jirtle came under direct fire. The bullets flying by her face were so close that she could feel the trailing shockwaves of each round. The shooter, a fellow U.S. soldier experiencing a breakdown, was only a dozen feet away.
“To this day, I still don’t know how he didn’t actually hit any of us,” says Jirtle. During her deployment, she also experienced mortar attacks as well as ER shifts during mass casualty events. After the Army, Jirtle went straight to college, where she felt out of place among civilians and had difficulties adjusting to her new environment. She was diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and was prescribed a battery of medications by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). The meds made her feel worse. A suicide attempt soon followed.
Eventually, Jirtle found solace through yoga…
