Iraq War Veteran's Road to Triathalon

Orange County (myFOXla.com) - Brandon Erickson, a first-year law student at Chapman University, works out almost everyday.

In the pool... on a bike... and on the track.

"I think the majority of people do it to have fun and stay in shape," Erickson says.

What's different here is that he does it all without an important tool that most other athletes have... a right arm.

Erickson lost his during a 2003 army tour in Iraq when the truck in which he was riding ran over a bomb.

"I didn't know what to think of it all," Erickson says. "It was a flood of emotions."

From the hospital, he called home to talk with Dana, then his girlfriend, now his wife.

"Don't break up with me," Erickson tells us he said. "I only have one arm. And she didn't care. She never cared. I'm just glad you're alive."

Back home, he got married and completed a masters degree in public administration.

He'd always loved the outdoors... hiking, hunting, and fishing. He did them again, and learned to laugh at himself.

"How do I use my prosthetics to do this," Erickson jokes. "And when I catch all those big ones all the time, how do I real them in?"

After recovering, he began to work out to lose all the weight he'd gained lying in a hospital bed.

That lead him into a triathlon competition.

"I then i just got hooked on my first race," Erickson says.

He says he was still self-conscious about his appearance though.

"Oh yeah, terribly.I would run with a prosthetic on and a long sleeve shirt, and I would hide it inside my sweatshirt and I wouldn't want anybody stare."

Competition built his confidence.

He now has a couple dozen triathlons under his belt, and a goal to compete in the world championships.

Swimming, he says, is the toughest part. He tries to make up the difference on the track and on the bike.

He says, he also competes for those who saved his life, and those who helped him rebuild it.

"I'd almost be mad at myself if I didn't try to achieve something," says Erickson.

He says he wants to be known for those accomplishments. Law student, triathlete... someone educationally, spiritually, and physically fit.

"I don't want to be ever known as, like, when people talk about me, 'Oh yeah, he's the guy with one arm, remember him?' I want to be known as Brandon, ya know."