Blinded by suicide bomber, dad's spirit gets even stronger

• "I still remember that moment. It was like the world froze and time stood still and everything was in slow motion." - TIFFANY SMILEY

COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho—The story you are about to read ends with a man who will accomplish something great.

Scotty Smiley will soon attempt to swim 2.4 miles, bike 112 miles and a run a marathon. Scotty is blind. Watch the video above and read the story below to experience his inspirational story of faith, determination and Ironman grit.

"On April 6, 2005, I was given a mission to find a suicide car bomb," said Scott Smiley as he remembered the day that changed his life forever.

"I parked my Stryker vehicle about 30 yards away from his, and yelled at him to get out of his vehicle," said the Pasco, Washington native. "He looked over his left shoulder at me, raised his hands off the steering wheel and just shook his head no. And then – boom – he detonated his car."

Tiffany Smiley remembers the day she found out that her husband was hit with shrapnel from a suicide bomber.

"I was awoken out of bed at 2:00 a.m. by a phone call," said Tiffany. "They just kept saying, 'Scotty's hurt really bad. Scotty's hurt really bad.

"I woke up about a week-and-a-half later in Walter Reed Army Medical Center, blind for the rest of my life," said Scotty.

The last image Scotty would ever see was evil personified in that suicide bomber.

There, lying in a hospital bed, his world was black and his mind swirling. He had cheated death, but could not help feeling cheated in the new life in which he had emerged.

"Why me? I felt I had lived a good life, I had done what I was supposed to do," said Scotty.

His mind flashed from one responsibility to the next. How would he even begin negotiating through this new world?

"How was I going to take care of my wife, the woman that I love, if I could not even take care of myself?" asked Scotty.

He plummeted into a deep depression.

"I was in a state in which I couldn't see past the day," said Scotty.

The life-long Christian began questioning his faith.

"I was questioning life, I was questioning God," said Scotty.

It was a dark time for Tiffany too. So many things had been stripped away, not the least of which the dreams of having a family. It just no longer seemed practical.

"This is already hard enough, this is our burden to carry," said Tiffany. "Why would we bring another child into this? Into this mess?"

But soon Tiffany made a choice: she would turn her face toward the light and pull Scotty with her.

"I could let my mind go that way and say we are ruined and we are not going to be able to do anything," said Tiffany. "Or I could go the other way and just be his biggest cheerleader. And I just sort of took that on, even if I didn't believe it myself."

Slowly, she did start to believe and positive feelings started to prevail. With the help of faith, family and friends, their life, they decided, could be full again.

"For me, the only way to get out of that dark place was love," said Scotty.

Bad days led to a few good ones, followed by months that ebbed towards happy. Dreams started taking shape again.

Click below to read the rest of this inspiring story and learn about Scotty's path to happiness.