Military graduate who suffered brain injury and was told he’d never read or write again earns bachelor’s, master’s degrees

Due in part to the encouragement of his fellow students and faculty, recent Liberty University graduate and U.S. Army National Guard service member Justin Ash (’19, ’20) feels blessed to share his inspiring story of comeback after a military accident in 2018 nearly took his life.

“The school’s been there for me,” said Ash, 30. “Overall, I spent two years in the hospital, and I recovered because Liberty was there for me. The professors and the students being there for me was my support group.”

In August 2018, while Ash was serving on his fourth tour of duty in Syria with a group from a special operations joint task force, his U.S. Army vehicle rolled, throwing weaponry loosely throughout the cab. A rifle muzzle cut through the back of Ash’s head and out the left side of his face.

“I didn’t lose consciousness until I pulled it out,” he said. “The vehicle was rolling so fast that things just started to come loose and it ripped everything on the left side of my face open. I guess you could say I had a perfect incision by the left side of my mouth.”

Along with his severe head injury, Ash had extensive shoulder, hand, and nerve damage. He was rushed to multiple hospitals overseas over the next several weeks and underwent numerous surgeries before being sent back to the United States, where he spent several more months in the hospital and was told by doctors that his life would never be the same.

Upon gaining consciousness, Ash was unable to read, write, walk, or speak clearly, and doctors doubted that he would ever be able to regain these abilities.

But Ash was determined to make his time in recovery count and prove the doctors wrong.

“It was a severe brain injury and it did some damage, some significant damage,” he said.  “I hit a moment where my back was up against a wall, and I wanted my life back.”

That holiday season, Ash found Liberty’s online programs and decided to chase after his dreams of earning a college degree. To the shock of those around him, Ash received his B.S. in Criminal Justice in the summer of 2019, one year after his near-fatal accident. He said he is thankful beyond measure to Liberty for giving him a chance when others around him had doubts.

“It was an extremely dark time in my life but everyone from my Liberty community was there for me,” he said. “Students would email me and check in while some would even call me.”

And it didn’t stop there. He went on to earn his Master of Science in Criminal Justice last summer and is currently pursuing his Ph.D. in Criminal Justice. He is on track to complete his P.h.D. in 2023 and plans to return to law enforcement in some capacity, a profession he jumped into as a 22-year-old fresh out of the U.S. Navy. He was working as a deputy sheriff in Marshall County, Miss., when he was called up by the National Guard to serve in Syria.

Although he originally had no intention of making law enforcement a long-term career, he quickly realized that this line of work was for him.

Now, the Oxford, Miss. native is able to reflect on God’s faithfulness and comfort throughout his inspiring journey.

“The moments when I felt alone, I really wasn’t,” he said.