The real heroes live among us, and you don’t have to look any farther than Karah Behrend for confirmation. Behrend is a retired disabled Army vet and a rally car racer, and she recently got the surprise of a lifetime when she was presented with a brand new Chevy truck.
November 11 was Veterans Day in the U.S., but Behrend’s story transcends physical frontiers. She is a 27-year-old woman currently living in Phoenix, Arizona, who served in the military for six and a half years before retiring for medical reasons, and who continues to inspire with her courage and resilience. It was for precisely these qualities that she was chosen as the recipient of a brand-new, retrofitted 2020 Chevrolet Colorado ZR2 presented to her as part of the DrivenToDrive program.
DrivenToDrive is a program that offers retrofitted cars to disabled vets, as a means to help them regain their independence. It’s backed by TrueCar, AutoNation and Disabled American Veterans, and this year, got a special appearance by TrueCar Military brand ambassador and NASCAR driver Jesse Iwuji. Iwuji went to Behrend’s home to inform her she’d won and present her with the new truck of her dreams. You can see a video of that moment at the bottom of the page.
Behrend joined the Air Force in 2011 as a Signals Intelligence Analyst and served for more than six years before she retired following an RSD CRPS (Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy Complex Regional Pain Syndrome) diagnosis. Since then, she’s focused on rally car racing, playing basketball and rugby in the Warrior Games, and voluntary work. As a racer, her biggest accomplishment to date is placing second in Rebelle Rally, the first women’s offroad navigation rally raid in the U.S.
“No one can see my disability when I’m behind the wheel of a car. Driving gives me a sense of freedom and the confidence that I’m not limited by my disability,” Behrend says in a press statement. “Whether it’s running errands or letting my adrenaline flow with off-road racing, I feel like I have my independence back when I’m driving. I cannot wait to drive my brand-new Chevy Colorado.”
While currently taking suggestions on social media on what to name her new truck, Behrend is planning on using it to teach disabled vets how to drive offroad with hand controls as part of her voluntary work, in case they ever get stuck in such a situation. Also, she’s itching to take it to the trails.
Elena has been writing for a living since 2006 and, as a journalist, she has put her double major in English and Spanish to good use. She covers automotive and mobility topics like cars and bicycles, and she always knows the shows worth watching on Netflix and friends. Full profile
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