Before you watch the Instagram clip below, you need to know a little bit about the man who’s going to — almost immediately — change the way you look at the rest of your day.

Back in 2008, United States Army Sergeant Nick Koulchar was deployed to Iraq as a combat engineer with Task Force 1-6, attached to the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division. Their area of operation was in and around Baghdad.

In late August of the year, Koulchar met a terrible fate while going through route clearance operations.

An explosively formed penetrator (EFP) hit his vehicle.

As the blast devastated the truck, the Army sergeant “sustained the traumatic amputations of both of his legs.”

He was airlifted to a hospital in the middle of Baghdad then, after a number of surgeries, was taken to a medical facility in Germany. After being in a coma for weeks, he awoke. He was in Bethesda, Maryland, at Walter Reed — a place he’d remain for two more years.

Which brings us to present day.

You see, Retired U.S. Army soldier Nick Koulchar isn’t relegated to a lifetime of inactivity. He hasn’t chosen to feel sorry for himself, even though he has every right to. He’s given so much for his country, yet, he’s still giving back more and more — and earning a nickname by doing the crazy-inspiring stuff like what you’re about to view from the Fort Bragg, North Carolina Spartan Race with Operation Enduring Warrior.

The nickname? The Raging Panda.

This is what grit and tenacity looks like in real life …

Follow Nick on Instagram: @ngkchar28