Wounded Warrior shares story of survival

BONITA SPRINGS, Fla.- Retired Air Force TSgt. Leonard Anderson knows July 28, 2012 could have been his last day.

Anderson, a member of the Wounded Warrior Amputee softball team, says
he’s alive today because of his dog Azza, a dog whose heroics were caught on camera.

“It is kind of shocking, but I am here,” said Anderson.

Azza, a bomb detecting dog, was in Afghanistan searching for explosives when she alerted Anderson something wasn’t right. Within moments, just feet from them, an IED exploded. A cameraman from Animal Planet, who was on the scene working on a story on military K-9s, captured Anderson’s near death moments on camera.

“When she started smelling the ground, I stopped. If she would have continued walking, I would have been on top of it. I would have been dead,” said Anderson.

Anderson lost his left hand and most of his right hand, while Azza wasn’t injured.

“I still try to figure out, what could I have done better to make to prevent this?”

Despite the devastating ordeal, the war hero is now in his third season with the Wounded Warrior Amputee softball team.

“It also replaces the camaraderie and the brotherhood you lose a little bit from injury,” said Anderson.

On Friday, the softball team was practicing in Fort Myers while Azza stayed at a local hotel.

“She just hangs out with the team,” said Anderson, “gets her love from everybody on the team.”

The Wounded Warrior Amputee softball team is scheduled to play fellow service members on Saturday, and Florida Gulf Coast University on Sunday.