Meet the Black Army Vet Who’s Going the Distance At the Paralympics

Aug 29, 2012

The 2012 Paralympic Games Opening Ceremony will take place Wednesday evening in London. The 11-day event will see 4,280 athletes from 165 countries competing in more than 20 sports Team USA features 20 military veterans and active duty service members, including some wounded at war in Iraq and Afghanistan.

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Among them is U.S. Army 82nd Airborne paratrooper Centra "Ce-Ce" Mazyck, who was paralyzed when her parachute got tangled with another in 2003. Doctors said she’d never walk again but Maczyk refused to listen. And she has proved them wrong. "I wasn’t hearing it. In my heart, in my soul, I knew I could walk," Mazyck told NBC News. "To this day, I am walking." Watch her video to the right. [The International Paralympic Committee will live stream more than 780 hours of events.](http://www.paralympic.org/) NBC will also broadcast a 90-minute special from 2-3:30 p.m. ET on September 16.