Minnesota pilot is first to return to Air Force flight duty after losing colon startribune.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from startribune.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Josh Nelson's own body proved to be a deadlier enemy than anything he encountered in Afghanistan or Iraq.As the pilot of a C-130 Hercules cargo plane, Lt. Col. Nelson flew scores of wartime missions during five overseas deployments with the U.S. Air Force Reserve.But when he returned home to Otsego, he was knocked off the flight line by a devastating and mysterious disease that cost him years .
The Air Force Reserve pilot was blocked from continuing his work as a flight instructor due to his diagnosis of ulcerative colitis, but sought surgery and treatment until a waiver was issued 2 years later.
Air Force Reserve pilot, grounded after medical diagnosis, returns to the sky: ‘Everyone can be resilient’
Lt. Col. Josh Nelson overcame obstacles to get back in the cockpit as a C130 instructor pilot.
“The great thing about what we do is the people who are there want to be there, we all choose to serve,” Nelson said.
He’s done five deployments in his 21 years with the Air Force, and he’s currently a full-time C130 instructor pilot with the Air Force Reserves.
“There’s no greater honor and responsibility than, you know, being given the keys to the C130,” Nelson said.