‘Don’t overlook abilities’: Emergency nurse fights for amputees’ right to join the armed forces

‘Don’t overlook abilities’: Emergency nurse fights for amputees’ right to join the armed forces

Spokane, Washington — Hannah Cvancara is motivated, physically fit and patriotic — everything the U.S. military wants, except for one condition the military considers disqualifying: an amputation of her left foot, which occurred when she was just 10 months old, the result of a rare birth defect.

“I never considered it part of my identity,” Cvancara told CBS News. “I’m just Hannah, missing a leg.”

But since then, she hasn’t slowed down. She rock climbs, snowboards, surfs, and hikes, and was a member of the school’s swim, track, and volleyball teams.

But while her amputation didn’t stop her at all, the Army did reject her from the Navy.

“The candidate in question does not meet the established physical standards,” reads the Navy’s rejection letter to Cvancara in March 2022.

Active-duty soldiers who lose limbs can still serve. But for those who want to enlist, “the current absence of a foot” is automatically disqualifying, according to the Defense Department’s medical standards for military service.

Contacted by CBS News about the policy, a Defense Department spokesperson said in a statement Monday: “At this time, there are no changes to this policy, and it would be inappropriate to speculate about the future. We have no additional information to provide.”

Cvancara’s desire to join the military comes at a time when recruitment numbers have reached their lowest levels since the Vietnam War.

“Our recruiting is suffering, and there are a lot of people who have the heart to serve but can’t,” Cvancara says.

Cvancara is in training to try to reenlist by applying for a medical waiver to join the Washington Air National Guard. She is also a full-time emergency room nurse — often on her feet for 12-hour shifts — and wants to continue doing her job while wearing the uniform.

“She brings joy,” Cvancara’s father, Lt. Col. Joseph Cvancara, a retired Air Force flight surgeon, said of his daughter. “Her middle name is Joy. And it fits her. She perseveres.”

Alex Gates, Cvancara’s prosthetist, says medical advances have run into outdated thinking.

“This rule was written back when prosthetics were made of wood and leather,” Gates said, adding that he believed Hannah was “more able-bodied than most people we see every day.”

Hannah has also taken her challenge to Congress, lending her name to a House bill — the Hannah Cvancara Service Act — that would change the U.S. military’s policy on the issue.

Hannah says she understands the policy and acknowledges the concern that an amputee might be seen as someone who can’t easily deploy. But the exemption she’s seeking would apply to a medical position. And advances in prosthetics have allowed amputees to play a much more active role than was possible in the past.

“I’m not asking that we ignore disability and pretend it doesn’t exist,” Hannah said. “I’m asking that we don’t ignore ability.”