Navy Special Operations Foundation
Navy EOD Chief Kenton Stacy was injured by an IED in Syria. A fundraiser was held recently in Watertown to help he and his family during his recovery.
A fundraiser for a member of a Navy explosives disposal unit who suffered injuries in Syria when a boobytrap exploded. The event featured two IRONMAN champions and was hosted by Watertown-based NormaTec.
The March 24 event raised $6,500 for the Navy Special Operations Foundation (NSOF) and for Explosive Ordnance Disposal Chief Kenton Stacy and his family, according to Suzanna Fisher, Director of Program Development for NSOF.
Ohio-native Stacy is a member of an elite Navy Explosive Ordinance Disposal unit assigned to assist Special Forces. He is fighting to recover from serious injuries sustained in Raqqa, Syria in November 2017. Stacy’s team was clearing boobytraps from a hospital that had been in control of ISIS when one of the IEDs went off only a few feet from Stacy.
He survived thanks to the efforts of the medic assigned to his team, who was honored during President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address. Stacy is being treated at TIRR Memorial Hermann in Houston, and he will require much support afterward. He and his wife Lindsey have four young children.
The NSOF event at NormaTec featured three-time IRONMAN World Champion Mirinda Carfrae and her husband and two-time IRONMAN Champion Timothy O’Donnell. NormaTec, which is based on Pleasant Street, makes equipment to help athletes and other recover more rapidly, and has teamed with IRONMAN, USA Triathlon and the BMC cycling team.
Navy Special Operations Foundation
IRONMAN World Champion Mirinda Carfrae, center, and IRONMAN Champion Timothy O’Donnell, left, answer questions during a fundraiser for the Navy Special Operations Foundation fundraising event for Kenton Stacy held at NormaTec in Watertown.
O’Donnell graduated from the Naval Academy and was briefly part of the EOD community but was released from active duty early to pursue his dream of competing professionally in triathlons, Fisher said. He went on to become an Ironman champion, and married Ironman women’s champ Mirinda Carfrae.
The couple developed the concept of combining forces with NormaTec to raise awareness and funding, Fisher said
Attendees of the event got to meet O’Donnell and Carfrae, who also participated in a Q&A. There was also a silent auction.
NSOF was created by active or former members and their spouses, and was formed in memory of Senior Chief Explosive Ordnance Disposal Technician Scott Dayton and others who have paid the ultimate sacrifice in defense of this nation, according to the organization.
Stacy’s family has set up a crowdfunding site at https://www.youcaring.com/lindseystacykentonstacy-1006960
A tax deductible contribution in honor of Stacy can be made via NSOF’s website (https://www.nsofoundation.org/) by referencing Kenton Stacy in the comments.