JR Martinez Biography

Fast Facts

• As a high-school football player, he hoped to one day play professionally, but he suffered a sports injury in his senior year
• Enlisted in the U
• S
• Army in 2002; in January 2003, was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division
• After being severely injured in Iraq and suffering burns over 40 percent of his body, claimed to see a vision of his sister Anabel, who had died when he was a child
• Spent 34 months in the hospital and underwent 33 different surgeries, including skin grafts and cosmetic surgery
• Discovered a talent for motivational speaking by talking with other burn victims during his recovery
• Joined the cast of the soap opera All My Children in 2008
• Winner of season 13 of Dancing with the Stars with partner Karina Smirnoff