Indomitable Spirit: Retired Sailor, Cancer Survivor, and Adaptive Sports Athlete Speaks at Navy Wounded Warrior Expo
18 November 2025
From Kyler Hood, Commander Navy Region Hawaii Public Affairs
When Information Systems Technician 1st Class (IT1) Maria Edwards was diagnosed with stage three breast cancer in 2022, her life was upended. She could no longer serve and began the process for medical retirement while undergoing chemotherapy. Then another complication arose: her mother, who traveled to Hawaii to care for Edwards, was also diagnosed with the disease and required her daughter’s help.
But rather than let cancer consume her life, Edwards, who was stationed on Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam (JBPHH) at the time, found strength and healing in the Navy Wounded Warrior Program.
“When I first joined the program, I didn’t have any idea about what it was or what it was about,” Edwards said. “But then I started to take part in the events. It was helpful in my treatment because I was being social with other people and wasn’t at home depressed about my condition.”
Edwards was the guest speaker at Navy Region Hawaii’s first-ever Navy Wounded Warrior Adaptive Sports Expo held Sept. 23-26 on JBPHH. The expo provided Navy and Air Force personnel and their families with a unique opportunity to experience the same adaptive sports that Wounded Warriors compete in on their journey to the Department of Defense Warrior Games.
Previously known as Safe Harbor, the Wounded Warrior Program offers support for active-duty Sailors, Reservists serving on active duty, and Coast Guardsmen wounded, ill, or injured in the line of duty or off duty.
“Our program provides resources and opportunities; however, our service members have to do the work,” explained Marc Puco, region program director for Navy Wounded Warrior. He said Edwards is a perfect example of how service members can benefit from the program, which helps them navigate the medical board process. For some enlisted personnel that could mean transitioning out of military service, a development that can be overwhelming, especially in the midst of medical treatment.
“We provide support to service members, so they know that the Navy still cares about them,” Puco said. “We’re going to lower that anxiety about the process if they’re going through the medical board by answering their questions and making sure they understand the difference between the Navy programs and VA [Veterans Affairs] programs.”
In addition to becoming a cancer survivor, Edwards became an adaptive sports athlete, student, mother of two daughters, and last year, the Navy Safe Harbor Foundation’s Wounded Warrior of the Year. Edwards was recognized for setting the standard for resilience, advocacy and perseverance when facing the life-altering challenges of her recovery.
Edwards retired from the Navy in 2024 with 23 years of service. She now lives in New Waverly, Texas and works as a team leader for Operation Red Wings Foundation facilitating therapeutic retreats for veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder and chronic pain.
Edwards credits a large part of her recovery to adaptive sports. “It saw me change from somebody who is severely injured or sick from my diagnosis until where I am today.”
In 2024, Edwards won a bronze medal in the 200-meter run at the DoD Warrior Games in Orlando, Florida and participated in several other sporting events including the Marine Corps Marathon 10k in Washington, D.C.
“Being a part of that adaptive sports program is amazing because we become a big team and even if I’m not the fastest runner and I’m not the best at what I’m doing, they still support me and they still have my back and it just makes me happy,” she said.
During her two years with Navy Wounded Warrior, Edwards also participated in the Veterans Readiness and Employment program, which allowed her to attend school without using GI Bill funds that she had passed on to her daughter. Edwards is currently working on a Bachelor of Science in criminal justice from Sam Houston State University and plans to earn her degree in spring of 2026.
Edwards’ mother still receives chemotherapy treatment and now resides in Texas where Edwards helps with her care.
To date, Navy Wounded Warrior has helped over 13,000 seriously wounded, ill and injured service members throughout the country. An estimated 770 Sailors and Coast Guardsmen are currently enrolled in the program including 37 Navy Region Hawaii enrollees.