BY LIZ PERRY
Only those who have suffered so greatly know how to change the world
Steve Defino:
A Veteran on a Mission
T
o any person walking by, Steve walks and talks normally. But those people cannot see the scars that he carries - both emotionally and physically - beginning with a 5-inch wound on his back where an IED (Improvised Explosive Device) blew through him while he was serving as a 12B Combat
Engineer in 2008. The blast almost ended his life. It took two years of intensive physical therapy to get him to a point where he could walk again (although many doctors said it couldn’t be done). After that, it was another seven years of physical therapy until he could manage his life and function normally. When soldiers enlist to serve their country, the system isn’t always prepared to assist them with the emotional and physical traumas that they sustained and subsequently have to manage upon their return home.
Right: Steve at his brand new Triceraterps Farms. Below: Damage from the IED (Improvised Explosive Device) on the vehicle that Steve was traveling in.
Steve realized he wanted to begin growing his own medicine when the prescribed traditional drugs didn’t have the effects that he needed. He wasn’t getting the necessary pain relief. He knew he could grow his own medical marijuana, and it would be higher quality than anything he could receive from doctors or purchase.
Hitting the Books But Steve didn’t begin his journey as an expert grower, so he set to work building connections with the leaders in the cannabis industry. He dedicated himself to learning all he could to bring his dream of opening his own facility to fruition. He took the knowledge he gleaned from others and began using it along with his own techniques, which, over the years, made him a better grower. As he improved, he started growing for other veterans.
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