Liam was severely wounded by an IED in Afghanistan about 15 months ago, losing his left leg above the knee and sustaining substantial injuries to his right leg and right arm. Now, dozens of surgeries later, he fulfilled his ambition to race wheel-to-wheel, competing in this year's PVGP races at PIRC (BeaveRun) and at Schenley Park. While hand controls in the race car were originally planned, Liam's ongoing physical progress allowed him to operate the car (ex-Huffaker '62 Austin Healey Sprite) without any special equipment, save Velcro to hold his prosthetic foot to the clutch pedal. While Liam wore rookie stripes on his car, he has a good bit of HPDE and autocross seat time and was fast from the get-go. To quote the Canadian gentleman who won the race, "He is no rookie."

This is a truly remarkable young man, with an unstoppable drive, positive attitude and sense of humor that belie the hand he's been dealt. Semper Fidelis, indeed.

There's another remarkable person involved here, too. Vintage racer Dave Thomas, following a chance meeting with Liam at VIR last fall, launched and championed this endeavor. Where a lot of us say "wouldn't it be great if someone did something to help these guys," Dave said that and then DID IT. A number of people and organizations also assisted with the project, with a very notable contribution of time by Dave Morris and the very generous donation of all Liam's safety gear by OG Racing (www.ogracing.com).